A GoFundMe has gone live for Emily Shelton, the 21-year-old woman who was forced to make an emergency landing due to engine failure on Interstate 10 earlier this week.
Landing a small aircraft on a busy stretch of interstate is an impressive feat alone, but video of the landing showed the young pilot navigate her plane underneath the overhead sign gantry over the interstate.
There were no injuries to Shelton, the student she was flying with or any motorists on the roadway during the landing.
Nicole Elder Gill, the mother of Shelton’s boyfriend, started a GoFundMe to help support her as she attends flight school and works toward becoming a pilot at a regional airline.
Gill explained on GoFundMe that flight school costs over $100,000 and that there are no federal education loans available, which means Shelton has had to turn toward private loans with steep interest rates.
Federal student aid doesn’t typically cover most flight training programs since they are classified as professional vocational training institutions rather than accredited colleges or universities.
ATP Flight School says that it costs $123,995 to become a pilot when starting with no previous experience or $90,995 when starting with a private pilot certificate.
The GoFundMe has raised $1,125 of its $14,000 goal, as of 3 p.m. on Wednesday.
What caused the emergency plane landing on I-10?
Shelton and her student reported that their plane had experienced engine failure and was forced to make an emergency landing on I-10 around 9:55 a.m. on Monday, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Public flight tracking data shows the plane, a 1974 Piper Cherokee Warrior, took off from the Pensacola International Airport at 9:20 a.m.
The plane flew north to the Barrineau Park area near the Perdido River at a height of 3,000 feet, where it did some turns before heading back to Pensacola. The plane dropped off flight tracking data at 9:52 a.m. as it was over the Ensley area at 1,600 feet, about two miles from where it made its emergency landing on I-10.
The plane operates out of the Pensacola Air Flight School and, according to its website, has been available for flight students’ training since 2022.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: GoFundMe launched for pilot who made emergency landing on I-10
Reporting by Brandon Girod, Pensacola News Journal / Pensacola News Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Brandon Girod, Pensacola News Journal | USA TODAY Network
