Whew! 83-Year-Old Pilot Lands Safely On South Florida Expressway | Aero-News Network
Aero-News Network
RSS icon RSS feed
podcast icon MP3 podcast
Subscribe Aero-News e-mail Newsletter Subscribe

Airborne Unlimited -- Most Recent Daily Episodes

Episode Date

Airborne-Monday

Airborne-Tuesday

Airborne-Wednesday Airborne-Thursday

Airborne-Friday

Airborne On YouTube

Airborne-SpecialEpisode-12.15.25

AirborneNextGen-
12.16.25

Airborne-Unlimited-12.10.25

Airborne-AffordableFlyers-12.11.25

AirborneUnlimited-12.12.25

AFE 2025 LIVE MOSAIC Town Hall (Archived): www.airborne-live.net

Tue, Jun 23, 2009

Whew! 83-Year-Old Pilot Lands Safely On South Florida Expressway

Mechanical Problems Forced Emergency Landing

Ralph Squeglia has been flying since 1944, so when his single-place homebuilt Hummelbird (file ph9oto, below) experienced engine problems on a Sunday morning flight, he knew he had to find a place to land quickly, and safely.

He chose the Sawgrass Expressway in South Florida, landing along the side of the road. Thought he apparently clipped a light pole on landing, Squeglia was uninjured, and he told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel he was very careful to avoid any moving cars. "It was a perfect landing," he said as he stood near the plane, waiting for Federal Aviation Administration officials to arrive.

The plane suffered substantial damage during the landing, and the incident will be investigated by the NTSB. Squeglia said the wing was damaged, causing him to veer to the side of the road after landing. A Florida State Trooper who investigated the incident said Squegila would not be charged with any traffic violations.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov

Advertisement

More News

ANN's Daily Aero-Term (12.19.25): Ultrahigh Frequency (UHF)

Ultrahigh Frequency (UHF) The frequency band between 300 and 3,000 MHz. The bank of radio frequencies used for military air/ground voice communications. In some instances this may >[...]

NTSB Prelim: Cirrus Design Corp SR22T

During The 7 Second Descent, There Was Another TAWS Alert At Which Time The Engine Remained At Full Power On October 24, 2025 at 2115 mountain daylight time, a Cirrus SR22T, N740TS>[...]

Classic Aero-TV: The Red Tail Project--Carrying the Torch of the Tuskegee Airmen

From 2009 (YouTube Edition): Educational Organization Aims to Inspire by Sharing Tuskegee Story Founding leader Don Hinz summarized the Red Tail Project’s mission in simple, >[...]

Aero-News: Quote of the Day (12.19.25)

“This feels like an important step since space travel for people with disabilities is still in its very early days... I’m so thankful and hope it inspires a change in m>[...]

Airborne 12.17.25: Skydiver Hooks Tail, Cooper Rotax Mount, NTSB v NDAA

Also: New Katanas, Kern County FD Training, IndiGo’s Botched Roster, MGen. Leavitt Named ERAU Dean The Australian Transportation Safety Bureau (ATSB) has wrapped up its inves>[...]

blog comments powered by Disqus



Advertisement

Advertisement

Podcasts

Advertisement

© 2007 - 2025 Web Development & Design by Pauli Systems, LC