Florida drivers on I-10 likely thought they were seeing things when 21-year-old Emily Shelton had to make an emergency landing on the freeway. The entire death-defying event happened in Pensacola as the young flight instructor encountered a problem. Though Shelton is just 21, her strength and level-headedness during the life-or-death situation make it seem like she’s been flying for 30 years.
According to news reports, Shelton was taking a student out for his very first flying lesson when the plane malfunctioned. She called in the mechanical trouble immediately, but no one could’ve guessed what would come shortly after. When she first called in to air traffic control, they cleared her for the runway at a nearby airport before asking if she was okay staying at her current height.
Trying to stay in the sky
Photo Credit: Canva
“No, we’re going to stay high for now so we can at least fly to the airport,” she replies. That confidence in making it to the airport quickly faded when Shelton called back, reporting, “Air tower, this is 41622. We’re going to keep it high for now, but we do now have a burning oil smell in the cockpit.”
Air traffic control sounds concerned by this development. They repeat, “Burning oil smell?” Shelton responds, “Yeah, our oil pressure is dropping down into the red, and we do have fumes in the cockpit from the oil.”
After confirming that the oil pressure was nearly gone, the young pilot declared an emergency. But the situation continued to move quickly. Soon after ending the communication with the air tower, she radioed back to inform them that their engine was losing power.
Engine begins to fail
There was no way to make it to the airport without an engine. This is when the flight instructor calmly relays, “I just want to let you know, we are lined up with I-10, trying to avoid the cars.”
The entire heroic landing was caught on a truck driver’s dash cam. In the video, you see the small engine plane lining up with the highway. Shelton then completes a daring maneuver to avoid hitting metal signs that stretch across the interstate. In the background, air traffic control worked with local authorities attempting to clear the road so the pilot could land safely. Both the flight instructor and the student walked away uninjured, and the plane remained undamaged cosmetically.
‘Training has prepared me’
Shelton tells Fox Nashville, “During the landing and emergency sequence, I was reassuring the student that we would be ok and that I was doing everything I could to find us a safe place to put down the aircraft.” She adds, “I feel my training has prepared me exceptionally well for this moment. I’ve practiced this exact scenario many times, just never thought I’d actually have to execute it in real life.”
The truck driver who captured the whole thing, a man named Eric Jordan, is counting himself lucky as well. Jordan’s dash cam filmed the dramatic event from his 18-wheeler. He tells NBC 11 Alive, “If I wouldn’t have seen that shadow over my truck and slowed down, he (the plane) would’ve been in the side of the cab.” Thankfully, the truck driver, the other drivers on the road, the pilot, and the student are all safe after what could’ve been a tragic situation.
People online are seriously impressed by the young pilot’s skills. One person jokes, “Brilliant calmness. Well done to the pilot. I’d like to think someone drove past saying ‘you can’t park there’.”
Impressive landing
Someone else comments, “That’s what a competent pilot does when trouble arises. Keep calm, fly the airplane safely, look for a place to land. Bravo!”
Another writes, “I have never been this calm in my life. Even about calm things. Amazing pilot.”
This person praises, “She did AMAZINGLY to fly under that without any wing damage or collision.”
One commenter asks a question likely on everyone’s mind: “She is a HERO. What a warrior. WOW. Side note: I wonder if the student took a second lesson.”
