The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office has given the young pilot who went viral after making a heart-pounding emergency landing on Interstate 10 on Monday the Sheriff’s Medal.
ECSO Sheriff Chip Simmons awarded Emily Shelton, 21, a Sheriff’s Medal for her “exceptional skill and calm under pressure” as she successfully flew a 1974 Piper PA-28 Cherokee aircraft underneath an overhead sign gantry and landed safely onto the interstate following engine failure.
“Thanks to her quick thinking, training, and professionalism, she safely landed the aircraft and prevented what could have been a much more serious incident,” ESCO wrote in a post on social media.
Young pilot makes emergency landing on I-10
Shelton, who works as a flight instructor, and her student took off from the Pensacola International Airport at 9:20 a.m. on Monday, according to public flight tracking data.
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.
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.
Her plane dropped off flight tracking data just a few minutes before the landing, as it was over the Ensley area at 1,600 feet, about two miles from where it made its emergency landing on I-10.
There were no injuries to Shelton, the student she was flying with or any motorists on the roadway during the landing.
This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Young pilot who made emergency landing on I-10 receives award
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
