In February 2001, Rowan Atkinson was on holiday in Kenya with his wife, Sunetra, and their two children, Ben, 8, and Lily, 6.
They had hired a small plane to fly from the coast to Nairobi.
About 45 minutes into the flight, the pilot passed out.
There was no second pilot and no automatic system to control the plane. The plane started shaking and moving from side to side.
Atkinson had never flown a plane before. But he moved into the pilot's seat, grabbed the controls, lifted the plane's nose and kept it steady.
Meanwhile, he and Sunetra kept trying to wake the pilot, reportedly slapping him across the face several times.
After a few minutes, the pilot woke up and took control again. He then landed the plane safely at the airport.
The pilot was believed to have passed out because he was dehydrated. He reportedly did not even know he had fainted.
The family reported what had happened and later flew back to London.
Atkinson has never spoken publicly about the incident.
The story came out from airport sources and Mr Bean's friends.
