MELBOURNE — Two Melbourne pastors rushed to aid a 57-year-old woman whose car was struck by a small plane attempting an emergency landing on Interstate 95, pulling her from the wreckage in what witnesses described as a miraculous escape from serious injury.
The accident happened on Monday around 5:45 p.m. on the southbound lanes of I-95 near mile marker 201 in Brevard County. A Beechcraft 55 fixed-wing multi-engine aircraft, piloted by a 27-year-old man from Orlando with a 27-year-old passenger from Temple Terrace, experienced engine failure and collided with the woman’s 2023 Toyota Camry during the landing attempt. Neither occupant of the plane was injured.
Pastors Annie and Bernard Wigley, who lead Thy Kingdom Come ministries in Melbourne, were driving their daughter to Orlando International Airport when they witnessed the crash. Annie Wigley, a trained nurse, along with her daughter, also a nurse, ran across the highway to check on the driver, who appeared dazed but otherwise unharmed aside from minor injuries, including a scrape from glass. The woman was trapped in her vehicle, which was totaled except for the driver’s seat, and was transported to a hospital by Brevard County Fire Rescue.
“It was awful. I absolutely expected to see someone who was either bleeding or possibly even dead,” Annie Wigley said. She added, “She seemed to be fine. Just kind of dazed,” and credited divine intervention, saying, “I knew it was God that saved her absolutely, even the two pilots that landed and only hit the one car. I knew God was in control.”
Bernard Wigley, who recorded the scene, noted the potential for greater disaster: “That could have been total destruction, total destruction. That could have 12 to 15 cars. There could have been fire from the fuel of the plane and total chaos, like something you see in a movie.” He described the car’s condition: “The car was totaled except the driver’s seat. That was the only part. I mean, the car was crushed.”
No explosion or fire resulted from the crash, which affected only the one vehicle despite heavy evening commute traffic. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the cause.