Another Highway Landing Results In Minor Injuries, Major Damage

One of the old sayings in support of air travel is: “A mile of road will get you one mile, but a mile of runway will take you anywhere.” It seems that, lately, pilots have frequently been borrowing those roadways as emergency runways after engine troubles.

The latest occurred yesterday (Jan. 31) in Florida when a 1949 Cessna 195 lost power and landed in the northbound lane of Interstate 95. The 300-HP radial Jacobs-engined (according to FAA registration data) vintage Cessna taildragger clipped a semi-trailer, veered into trees alongside the highway and wound up on its back. The two occupants emerged with minor injuries, according to reports from the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Highway Patrol, and the truck driver was not injured.

According to FlightAware data, the airplane departed to the west from the Spruce Creek Fly-in Community airport (7FL6) at 12:38 p.m. local time, climbing to about 6,000 feet. Turning north, the flight lasted only 14 minutes before the emergency landing at 12:52. FAA records show the airplane registered to a Port Orange, Florida, man as of September 2020, with the prior registration (dated September 2018) listed to another man with the same last name and from the same town. Port Orange is the municipality directly adjacent to the Spruce Creek Airport.