Small plane makes emergency landing on busy Florida road, clipping a pickup truck
A small plane made an emergency landing on a busy road in Florida, striking the back of a moving pickup truck. The dramatic close call, captured on video, left no one injured.
The Lee County Sheriff's Office said a mechanical issue forced the aircraft to attempt an emergency landing near Bayshore Road and Interstate 75 in North Fort Myers around noon on Saturday. Two pilots were aboard the aircraft.
According to FlightAware tracking data, the plane departed Sebring, Florida, around 11 a.m. Saturday and made the emergency landing about 50 minutes later, at 11:50 a.m.
Video captured from the road shows the plane's wheels touching down on the asphalt as it speeds along Bayshore Road, its wing clipping the rear of a pickup traveling in the same direction. The truck was heading eastbound when the aircraft struck it, according to the sheriff's office.
Lee County Sheriff Carmine Marceno said in a statement that the incident had a positive outcome and no one was injured. Given the recent tragic news involving aviation accidents, he said, they were especially grateful that everyone was safe.
Marceno credited patrol deputies, FDOT Southwest Florida and Bayshore Fire Rescue for their quick response.
The Federal Aviation Administration is leading the investigation, according to the sheriff's office. Marceno said they would continue working closely with their partners at the FAA as they review the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The close call came less than a week after a Learjet crashed on Sunday, Nov. 1, in Greenacres in Palm Beach County, killing all nine people aboard. Federal investigators are working to determine what caused that crash.
