Air traffic reveals moments before plane went down on I-4

MAITLAND, Fla. (FOX 35 ORLANDO) - Five tense minutes for a pilot and a control tower. At 5:20 p.m. Thursday, the pilot of a small plane, called the Orlando Executive Airport in distress.

“I am about 11 miles north of the airport and I just ran out of fuel in one tank,” said Angel Garcia.

Garcia requested an immediate landing. The tower granted the landing, but just a few minutes later, Garcia called in a "mayday." 

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

The tower asked if Garcia could make it to the airport, but it was too late.

“No, no airport, no airport,” said Garcia.

Garcia said the plane’s engine turned off. That is when the plane disappeared from the sky, off the tower’s radar.  A minute later, Garcia confirmed he had made a crash landing on the ramp from Maitland Boulevard to Interstate 4, in the middle of rush hour.

“I am on the highway, made a hard landing, crash,” said Garcia.

The plane clipped a car, but surprisingly, no one was injured.

On Friday evening, after the aircraft sat on the side of I-4 for nearly 24 hours, crews removed the plane’s wings and hauled it away to the Lakeland Linder International Airport.  A crash report has not yet been released.