Brandon Hinson of North Fort Myers was driving a truck with a trailer down Bayshore Road Saturday when he heard a funny sound.
"I was driving down Bayshore. I had my windows down. I looked over and as I looked over I saw the plane coming nose at an angle down and I sped up in it hit the ground in the far left lane bounced into the middle lane and then into the turn lane and that’s why I came to a stop," Hinson told WGCU. "It landed probably 20 maybe 30 feet behind the truck and trailer I was driving."
Law enforcement and fire emergency units were at the North Fort Myers scene, not far from the I-75 overpass.
The Lee County Sheriff's Office reports that two pilots were aboard the aircraft when they experienced a mechanical issue and made the emergency landing and crashed into the rear of a pickup truck traveling eastbound on Bayshore.
There was no report of any injuries.
The plane was a Cessna 172D with an FAA registration in the name of Edward Kear of Bonita Springs. The FAA will be lead agency to investigate the incident.
For Hinson, the moment was rather stress-filled.
"Yeah, I was at first just wondering like what is he doing and then the next thing I know I was like oh no we’re about to crash and sped up and thankfully you know he can obviously fly pretty well,"
he said. " He landed well without any other incident so I’m blessed."
LCSO Patrol & FDOT safely relocated the aircraft while FAA works to assume the investigation. pic.twitter.com/k6xA8m6cCv
— Carmine Marceno - Lee County Sheriff (@SheriffLeeFL) November 7, 2026
He said he had no time to take photos he was so intent on missing the plane coming at him.
"I was just trying to stay out of the way," he said.
Hinson's wife, Dessy Makar, said she found out after she got a call from her husband: "My phone just started blowing up, he knows I’m working, so I’m like 'what is happening,' she said. "He answers like 'A plane almost just hit me'.”
Makar, who posted about the landing on her Facebook page, was relieved the incident wasn't more serious.
"I cannot even begin to express how THANKFUL I am that my husband made it out of that situation alive and unharmed."
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