Making sure your regular passengers are familiar with critical systems can be important in case you become incapacitated.

An Aviation Safety Staff Report

It’s the stuff of Hollywood legend—the flight crew somehow becomes incapacitated—”Who had the fish?”—and a passenger takes over and safely lands the airplane, gets the girl and becomes a hero. If it’s a slow season at the theatre, he even gets to do a sequel. Of course, the likelihood of any of this occurring aboard a scheduled passenger flight is way down in the noise level. But, we can dream.

Unfortunately, pilot incapacitation can and does happen aboard personal airplanes. Reasons can include a sudden health emergency, carbon monoxide poisoning or an in-flight injury, among others. When it does happen, the outcome is often unfavorable. …