ESCAMBIA COUNTY, Fla. — This was an unusual landing strip.
A small airplane made an emergency landing on Interstate 10 in the Florida Panhandle on Monday, deputies said.
According to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office, the landing took place on the eastbound lane of the interstate. The plane landed near mile marker 14 at about 9:55 a.m. CT, the Pensacola News Journal reported.
Deputies said the pilot and a flight student reported mechanical issues, which forced the premature landing of the aircraft. According to the Florida Highway Patrol, the plane -- a Piper PA-28 Cherokee used by Pensacola Air Flight School -- suffered engine failure during the flight, WEAR reported.
No injuries were reported.
Truck driver Eric Jordan captured dash camera video of the plane landing on the highway, according to the television station. The video shows the plane dipping under an overhead sign structure before it lands on the highway.
“If I hadn’t seen a shadow over my truck and slowed down, he would have been on the inside of the cab,” Jordan told WEAR. “As you see in the video, it was a close call for the truck and for the sign, but he landed, he kept it in control.”
“I just couldn’t believe it was happening.”
Air Traffic Control audio obtained by WEAR revealed that the pilot reported the smell of burning oil in the cockpit.
“We’re not making the airport, we’re going down on I-10,” the pilot can be heard telling air traffic control.
“We’re very lucky,” Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons said, according to WKRG. “We’re very fortunate that it was, I don’t want to say, a safe landing, but certainly a landing that was not as bad as it could be.”
Jordan said it was the “craziest experience” he has had during his 28 years as a truck driver.
“To see that plane come that close, you see it in movies, but you never thought, you know, it’d happen to you,” Jordan told the television station. “That could of been real bad. That could’ve been a tragedy.
“I’m lucky to be going home this evening, you know? Thank God for that. You know, thank God they’re OK too and able to make it home.”
© 2026 Cox Media Group
