‘Mayday! Going down!' pilot says before landing plane on I-4 ramp near Maitland

ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — A pilot made an emergency landing Thursday afternoon on an Interstate 4 entry ramp in Maitland, damaging one car in the process, police said.

The plane remained on the shoulder of the road Friday morning surrounded by crime tape and cones. Crews removed the plane's wings and loaded the plane onto a truck Friday afternoon.

The pilot, Angel Garcia, was traveling from South Carolina to Orlando Executive Airport when he ran out of fuel, police said.

The pilot landed the plane at about 5:30 p.m. near the entry ramp from Maitland Boulevard to westbound I-4.

“Mayday, mayday! Going down!” Garcia said.

The plane struck a car during the landing, but no one was injured.

Witnesses told Channel 9 they couldn't believe it when they saw a plane in the middle of the on-ramp.

"(On) I-4, you think you see everything, but not planes," one driver said.

"I can only imagine being a driver and seeing that in your rearview mirror coming toward you," driver Kyle Kelly said. "I don't even know how you would respond."

Police said the Federal Aviation Administration will determine if Garcia will be penalized for the landing.

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