Just to add to the other answers - that it has actually happened - this is a light plane with one pilot and one passenger, a Cessna, happened in 2013 Humberside airport.Pilot slumped shortly after take off. The passenger, who had been around airfields and been passenger before but never flown, was able to land successfully. The pilot died.
You can hear the passenger John Wildey talk about the experience here:
Humberside Airport emergency landing pilot dies - BBC News
Also: Hero passenger lands light aircraft at Humberside airport after pilot