Driving down the interstate always carries risks.
But one Florida driver experienced something most people never imagine.
And one Florida driver got the shock of her life when a plane landed on her roof.
A small plane turned I-95 into an emergency runway during Monday rush hour
A 57-year-old Melbourne woman was just driving home from work on Interstate 95 on Monday evening when the unthinkable happened.
A twin-engine Beechcraft 55 Baron literally dropped out of the sky and crashed directly onto the roof of her 2023 Toyota Camry.
Dashcam footage from another driver captured the terrifying moment around 5:45 p.m. near mile marker 201 in Cocoa.
The plane, with two 27-year-old men aboard on an instructional flight from Merritt Island, had lost power in both engines.¹
The pilot had no choice but to attempt an emergency landing on the packed highway during the evening commute.
"Out of nowhere, that plane came down, and it was shock, yeah, total shock," witness Jim Coffey told NBC 6.²
In the video, the aircraft descends rapidly toward the freeway before slamming onto the Camry's roof.
https://twitter.com/vani_mehrotra/status/1998567148357378405?s=20
The plane bounced off the vehicle, sending a shower of sparks across multiple lanes before skidding to a stop against the concrete median barrier.
"I noticed it was there, because there's a plane right there, I was like, 'Hopefully it lands to the side,'" Peter Coffey, who filmed the crash, told Spectrum News. "I thought it might maybe aim around and not hit the car, but bam, the wheel just smacked right dab on the back of the car."³
The Camry sustained catastrophic damage.
Its rear and sides were completely crushed where the aircraft made contact.
Photos from the scene showed the mangled sedan sitting behind the damaged plane, which came to rest partially on top of the highway barrier.
Florida sees two small plane emergencies in a single day
The Melbourne woman was rushed to Viera Hospital with what authorities described as minor injuries — a miracle considering a plane just crushed her car at highway speeds.⁴
Both men aboard the aircraft walked away completely unharmed.
They remained at the scene to assist Florida Highway Patrol and federal investigators.
Traffic on both the northbound and southbound lanes of I-95 was shut down for hours as emergency crews worked to clear the wreckage and debris.
The Federal Aviation Administration and National Transportation Safety Board launched an immediate investigation into what caused both engines to fail simultaneously.⁵
The plane, tail number N95KC, is registered to Tailwinds Flying LLC, which operates out of Merritt Island Airport.
This was the second small-plane emergency landing in Florida that same day.
https://twitter.com/barstoolsports/status/1998808590250102940?s=20
Earlier Monday afternoon around 2 p.m., a Cessna 172 made an emergency landing on Jacobs Road in DeLand, about 46 miles north of Orlando.⁶
Two people aboard that aircraft were injured and taken to a local hospital.
Questions mount about small aircraft safety over populated areas
What makes this incident particularly concerning is that both engines reportedly failed during what should have been a routine instructional flight.
Twin-engine aircraft are specifically designed with redundancy so that if one engine fails, the plane can continue flying on the other.
For both engines to quit simultaneously points to a serious mechanical problem or fuel issue that investigators need to figure out.
The NTSB is asking anyone who witnessed the crash or has surveillance footage to contact them at witness@ntsb.gov.
"We saw it coming, and everyone on the opposite side of the road saw it coming, but, you know, she did not see it coming," Peter Coffey said about the woman in the Camry.⁷
Think about that for a second.
Everyone around her saw the disaster unfolding except the one person it was about to happen to.
She had no warning, no time to react, no way to avoid a plane literally falling on top of her car while she was just driving home.
The fact that she survived with only minor injuries is nothing short of miraculous.
This crash raises serious questions about small aircraft operating over densely populated areas and major highways.
When something goes catastrophically wrong at 5:45 p.m. on a Monday during rush hour traffic on one of Florida's busiest interstates, innocent people on the ground are put at enormous risk through no fault of their own.
The Melbourne woman was simply going about her day when a plane experiencing mechanical failure turned her commute into a near-death experience.
Florida has seen multiple small plane incidents in recent months, including a November crash in Coral Springs that killed a pastor and his daughter who were delivering hurricane relief supplies.
With the increasing number of private and instructional flights operating over populated regions, federal authorities need to take a hard look at what additional safety measures should be required.
Because the next driver might not be as lucky as this Melbourne woman who somehow survived a plane landing on her roof.
¹ National Transportation Safety Board, "Beechcraft 55 Baron Emergency Landing Investigation," NTSB, December 8, 2025.
² Jim Coffey, quoted in "Video shows plane make emergency landing on highway, hitting car in Brevard County," NBC 6 South Florida, December 9, 2025.
³ Peter Coffey, quoted in "Video: Plane lands on I-95 in Brevard County, crashing into car, injuring driver," Spectrum News 13, December 9, 2025.
⁴ Florida Highway Patrol, "Aircraft Emergency Landing on I-95," FHP Press Release, December 8, 2025.
⁵ Federal Aviation Administration, "Beechcraft 55 Incident Report," FAA, December 8, 2025.
⁶ "Plane Crashes into Traffic During Emergency Landing on Florida's I-95 Highway," Travel And Tour World, December 9, 2025.
⁷ Peter Coffey, quoted in "Video shows plane make emergency landing on highway, hitting car in Brevard County," NBC 6 South Florida, December 9, 2025.
