Lol, that was a fun experience 
I believe the “ghost” is the AI pilot feature that is supposed to automatically fly the plane according to your flight plan.
If I remember correctly, the only way to turn it off is to play one of the Discovery flights, then select the AI pilot (or copilot I don’t remember the exact name) and then turn it off. Then exit out of the Discovery flight and start a new flight from the world map as usual, the AI pilot should remain off.
Hope that helps!
3 Likes