National Guard Plane Makes An Emergency Landing, Almost Takes Out A Tesla

It takes a ton of skill to fly a plane. Members of organizations like the United States National Guard are well-trained and highly capable in the cockpit, and have been for decades. That said, things can go wrong, such as a recent incident that saw a National Guard plane almost take out a Tesla during an emergency landing.

As reported by 40/29 News and other outlets, on October 26, a National Guard plane — specifically an OA-1K Skyraider II, one of the handful of propeller aircraft still used by the U.S. military — was flying over Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, when disaster struck. It suffered sudden engine failure, requiring an immediate emergency landing for the safety of those on board.

Fortunately, it made it to the ground without any human harm or casualties, though it did give some drivers in the area a scare: As captured on driver Matthew Topchian's Tesla dashcam, the plane nearly landed on a roadway as it was descending, requiring Topchian to take evasive action to avoid hitting it. Topchian had some undeniably stellar luck in this situation, with neither him nor his vehicle damaged by the aircraft. 

It's one thing to read about the story of this Skyraider II barely making it across an occupied roadway without harming a single car, but the video of the near-catastrophe makes the situation all the more remarkable. Matthew Topchian's dashcam footage shows him driving as normal when the plane suddenly appears in the distance. In mere moments, it's virtually on the road and headed straight for his vehicle. He swerves out of the way successfully, and the Skyraider careens past without making any contact with Topchian's Tesla.

"It kept coming, coming, coming. I was like, 'That plane's about to hit me,'" Topchian told 40/29 News of his thoughts during the encounter, likening the situation to something you'd see in a movie. He then explained that the plane was moving so quickly that he only had a few seconds at most to react, so he basically relied on instinct to keep himself and his vehicle safe. Ultimately, Topchian noted that once the plane did stop, it had done some serious damage to the surrounding area. It took out some power lines and started a fire, causing him to initially wonder if the plane had exploded. Thankfully, it hadn't, and the fire it did cause was contained in short order.

Throughout the years, we've witnessed some of aviation's worst accidents happen for all kinds of reasons. While it may have been nerve-wracking in the moment, it's good to know that this Skyraider II engine failure didn't result in a similar tragedy.