Just after noon on Tuesday, the air traffic control tower at Florida's Treasure Coast airport in Fort Pierce got an unusual call.

"I've got a serious situation here. My pilot has gone incoherent. And I have no idea how to fly the airplane," said the man, according to recordings of the air traffic control call.

Thirty frantic minutes later — with the help of multiple air traffic controllers around West Palm Beach, Fla. — the plane and its passengers were safely on the ground in a remarkable and unusual emergency landing.

The passenger who made the landing has not been publicly identified. In the recordings, he says several times that he does not know how to operate the Cessna Caravan aircraft, although his conversations with controllers indicate some familiarity with technical aviation terms.

"Luckily the passenger flying has been around aviation a little bit. But he wasn't a pilot and didn't really have any flying experience," said Robert Morgan, the Palm Beach International air traffic controller who helped him land the single-engine turboprop, in an interview with local TV station CBS 12.

The plane departed from the Bahamas just before 11 a.m. for what should have been a short and uneventful flight to Treasure Coast.

But with about 70 miles to go, flight logs show the plane beginning to deviate from its steady altitude and speed. Then, the plane takes a hard left turn, flying south parallel to the Florida coast, gently lifting back above 9,000 feet. The first call to air traffic control came afterward.

Asked what his location was, the passenger responded: "I have no idea. I see the coast of Florida in front of me, and I have no idea."

"Try to hold the wings level and see if you can start descending for me. Push forward on the controls and descend at a very slow rate," the controller said. "Just try to follow the coast either north- or southbound. We're trying to locate you."

As the plane headed toward the coast near Boca Raton, air traffic control at Palm Beach cleared the runways.

And Morgan – who also has experience as a flight instructor – was called in from his break to help the passenger land safely, he said. He had never flown the Cessna, but used a picture of the cockpit to help coach the passenger through the landing.

"Before I knew it, he said, 'I'm on the ground, how do I turn this thing off?'" Morgan said, speaking to WPBF, another local station. "He told me that he couldn't wait to get home and hug his pregnant wife."

The plane landed just after 12:30 p.m. local time. Video shows a bumpy but safe landing.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

SALADO, Texas (KWTX) - A group of Salado 6th graders got to complete the ultimate science project by having their projects fly in a zero-gravity aircraft.

The students’ teacher, Laura Tomlin, said they’ve been working on two major projects since October.

One project is designed to investigate how water movement in the soil on the moon and Mars is affected by the different gravity levels on those bodies.

The other looks at how long-term space flights could lead to liver damage because the microgravity environment may suppress enzyme function.

Tomlin was one of four teachers nationwide chosen to be embedded with the Carthage College Microgravity Team and take these students’ project on the zero-gravity aircraft called Zero-G G-Force One in Florida.

The opportunity comes through a partnership with the Wisconsin Space Grant Consortium, The National Space Society, and the Zero Gravity Corporation.

Each teacher was able to experience eleven minutes of weightlessness.

Tomlin said she hopes taking these projects out of the classroom will inspire the students to embrace careers in STEM: science, technology, engineering, and math.

“I think space exploration is a really good way to get kids excited about science. You know, it takes science fiction and makes it reality,” Tomlin said. “Because there is so much going on in the space programs right now and these kids need to be prepared for that.”

Most of the students who were involved in the projects told KWTX they are interested in careers in STEM after being exposed to complex science projects in class.

“All I would’ve thought that we would do is elephant toothpaste and chemistry stuff,” said Caedmon Flynn, one of the many 6th graders participating in the projects.

“But then Ms. Tomlin started talking about space shuttles and right when that unit ended, I was like ‘you know what, I’m committing to this.’ And it is so great, it’s paid off a lot.”

Once Tomlin returns to Salado from Florida, students will compare their initial results from class with the results from the zero-gravity aircraft.

Copyright 2022 KWTX. All rights reserved.

Joe is worried about the gauntlet that is the Bucs’ first four games of the season.

At the Cowboys, at the slimy Saints, hosting the Packers and Chiefs … well, “this Joe” hopes the Bucs are no worse than 2-2 to start the season (the other Joe will throw up on himself if the Bucs are anything less than 3-1).

One win the Joe ping this here story has already chalked up is the game against the Packers on Sept. 25. Why is Joe so confident? Well, aside from Packers drama queen quarterback Aaron Rodgers being a choke artist in the playoffs, Rodgers is also awful in warm-weather games.

And in particular, Rodgers blows chunks in Florida. Joe is guessing Rodgers, the California boy who works in northeastern Wisconsin, doesn’t handle humidity well.

How awful is Rodgers in Florida? Well, he and the Packers got their tails kicked in between the legs to open the season last year in Jacksonville. That’s when Mr. Entertainment, America’s Quarterback, Pro Bowler Jameis Winston, and the slimy Saints seal-clubbed them 38-3.

And remember two years ago when Rodgers and the Packers came to the Stadium on Dale Mabry Highway and Ndamukong Suh and Jamel Dean and Tom Brady rag-dolled them? Yup, that was a warm-weather game, too.

Shoot, Joe remembers in his very first NFL start, leaky, sleepy Josh Freeman beat Rodgers wearing the creamsicles 38-28 during Freeman’s rookie season.

In Rodgers’ last win over the Bucs in Tampa in 2014, lousy Lovie Smith’s defense held the mighty Packers and Rodgers to 20 points. Rodgers also hurt his right foot and whined for the rest of the season that the Bucs had the worst turf in the NFL and blamed the turf for his tender little paw. Aw.

So not only are humidity and Suh in Rodgers’ head, so too is the turf in Tampa. Add it all up and it spells out Rodgers mentally shutting down the second the Bucs take a lead in the game.

Aaron Rodgers & @packers will play at @Buccaneers this season…

Rodgers in Florida : – 3-5 career record (2+ INT in 4 of 8 games)

– 4 INT in 2 games in FL since 2020 (5 INT in other 30 games)

– Lost 38-3 in JAX (vs Saints) in Week 1, 2021 & Lost 38-10 at TB in Week 6, 2020 pic.twitter.com/7mMIexcFPJ

— NFL Research (@NFLResearch) May 12, 2022

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It's been one of those rare, idyllic springs in Florida.

Temperatures have yet to creep much further than the low 80s, and I've even worn a jacket a few days this month.

Mornings and early evenings on the lanai are especially blissful, turning al fresco breakfasts into brunch and a glass of wine and snacks into movie night that stretches on for hours.

Yes, gale-force winds continue to spread pollen and blow palm boots around the yard, terrifying the dog. Otherwise, the past couple of months have been undeniably pleasant.

It's coming, my exercise buddies and I tell one another. This is the last weekend we'll walk without ending up soaked to the skin by the swelter of summer. This is the last round of burpees and pushups we'll suffer through without the added insult of sweat stinging our eyes.

Then somehow, we get another gorgeous weekend. Then another.

It's like playing a weeks-long game of Jenga, when the blocks stack higher and higher. It teeters and shimmies, but it keeps growing. Eventually, it will fall. We know that. It's inevitable. So instead of enjoying the tower while we can, we brace for the crash, when everything comes tumbling down.

Like that crash, we know the heat and humidity won't hold off forever.

It won't be long before we're scorching our hands on red-hot steering wheels and melting under a blanket of humidity.

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So right now, while it's still lovely out, why are so many people already complaining? It's going to be sooooooooo hot!

Well, yes. Yes, it is. This is Florida. Did you not know about the heat before you came here? I mean, was the "Sunshine State" moniker not a hint?

Sure, summers here can be a bit much. They're sticky and heavy and uncomfortable.

But right now, it's snowing in Idaho and Oregon. Friends in Wisconsin are lighting fires to stay warm.

Meanwhile, I spent the weekend in my pool.

Doesn't the joy of wearing shorts on New Year's Day make up for a little sweat in August?

Soon, the Jenga tower of spring will topple, splashing the molten lava of summer all over us.

Let's all enjoy today's mild temps while we have them. And when they're gone? We can enjoy the air conditioning.

After all, the heat won't last forever, either. Summers always go by too quickly. Another year will pass. Another season gone.

We'll bundle up and wear long pants and socks for a few weeks.

But at least we won't have to shovel snow.

Suzy Fleming Leonard is a features journalist with more than three decades of experience. Reach her at sleonard@floridatoday.com. Find on Facebook: @SuzyFlemingLeonard or on Instagram: @SuzyLeonard

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In a NASA-funded study, scientists at the University of Florida grew plants in soil collected from the moon, according to a study published Thursday in the journal Communications Biology.

The study is paramount to NASA's long-term goals in human space exploration, NASA administrator Bill Nelson said in a press release. The research could also have implications for plants growing in harsh conditions on Earth, he added.

"We'll need to use resources found on the Moon and Mars to develop food sources for future astronauts living and operating in deep space," Nelson said.

In the study, researchers planted the seeds of Arabidopsis thaliana — a plant related to mustard greens, as well as other cruciferous vegetables, including broccoli and cauliflower — in lunar soil, which was sampled directly from the moon from missions Apollo 11, 12 and 17.

To compare, researchers also planted the seeds in a lunar simulant, designed to closely mimic real lunar soil.

Anna-Lisa Paul, a research professor in the horticultural sciences department at the University of Florida and the study's lead author, described the samples from the moon as "fine" and "powdery." It also "sticks to everything," Paul added.

The seeds started to sprout within days of planting.

"We planted them, walked away for a couple of days and then when we first went back in to take a look, it was amazing to see that every plant group, all the seedlings germinated," said Paul, who is also the director for the University of Florida's Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology Research.

Although all of the seeds sprouted, the ones that grew in lunar soil did not grow as "robust" as those in the control, according to the release. Some of the plants grown in the lunar soil samples had "stunted" roots and leaves, as well as some "reddish pigmentation," the release said.

After the plants had grown for 20 days, researchers harvested the plants and prepared to study the plant RNA. The expressed gene patterns matched the way in which researchers had seen Arabidopsis react to stress before in other harsh environments, such as when soil carries excess salt or heavy metals, according to the release.

"Now that we have lunar soil that have been in contact with biology, we can begin to ask the question: how would you and how hard would it be to mitigate any of the adverse reactions that we saw?" said Robert Ferl, assistant vice president for research at the University of Florida and an author on the study.