A small plane made an emergency landing onto a moving car on Interstate 95 in Cocoa, Florida, on Monday, Dec. 8, shocking nearby drivers and leaving one person injured, according to multiple reports.
The fixed-wing Beechcraft 55, carrying a 27-year-old pilot and a 27-year-old passenger, developed engine trouble shortly before 5:40 p.m. and attempted to land on the freeway. The aircraft came down directly onto a 2023 Toyota Camry around 5:45 p.m., smashing parts of the vehicle as it struck the roof before skidding to a stop. The two men on board were not injured.
The 57-year-old woman driving the Camry was transported to a local hospital with minor injuries. Video captured by a motorist behind the vehicle shows the plane descending rapidly toward the highway, bouncing twice after impact, and sliding through traffic in a shower of sparks. “Oh my goodness! A plane just crashed onto a car on a highway!” the person recording is heard saying.
Photos from the scene showed the plane in the middle of several lanes with visible front-end damage, while the Camry sustained heavy damage to its rear and sides. Shocked drivers pulled over as authorities responded.
The Florida Highway Patrol and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the incident. A section of the interstate near the 201-mile marker was shut down to clear debris and begin the investigation and later reopened.
The I-95 emergency landing occurred just hours after a separate small-plane incident in DeLand, about 46 miles outside Orlando. In that case, a Cessna 172 made an emergency landing on Jacobs Road around 2 p.m. Two people were taken to a hospital and treated for injuries. A bystander told Fox 13 News he saw the aircraft flying “extremely low” shortly before it went down.
Both incidents remain under investigation.
The crash comes amid a recent rise in small-plane incidents. In a separate incident on Nov. 10, a small Beechcraft King Air plane crashed in Coral Springs, Florida, killing a Cayman Islands pastor, 53-year-old Alexander Wurm, and his 22-year-old daughter Serena while they were delivering hurricane relief supplies to Jamaica following Hurricane Melissa
