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Map of Pensacola, Florida

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A 21-year-old landed the failing plane on the highway. Everyone walked away.

Pensacola, Florida · 7 August 2026

The airport was too far. So she picked the highway.

Emily Shelton, a 21-year-old flight instructor, landed a malfunctioning plane on Interstate 10 in Pensacola, Florida, after the engine failed during a student's first-ever lesson. She reported the trouble to air traffic control early, first noting a burning oil smell, then dropping oil pressure. When the engine lost power, the nearby airport was out of reach. "I just want to let you know, we are lined up with I-10, trying to avoid the cars," she radioed. She threaded the plane under the metal signs stretching across the interstate without clipping a wing. Both she and the student walked away uninjured, and the aircraft was undamaged. Truck driver Eric Jordan caught it on his dash cam. "If I wouldn't have seen that shadow over my truck and slowed down, he would've been in the side of the cab," he told NBC 11 Alive. Shelton said she had practiced this exact scenario many times, and never expected to run it for real.

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