19-year-old pilot safely lands Cessna on Jupiter roadway after experiencing engine failure
WPBF 25 NEWS STARTS RIGHT NOW. WE TAKE FOR GRANTED. YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN THE LAST DAY YOU GET TO TALK TO YOUR PARENTS OR YOUR FAMILY WILL BE. SO WHEN YOU GET THAT TIME WITH THEM, ENJOY IT. BECAUSE I COULD HAVE YOU COULD HAVE HAD A VIDEO OF HER CRYING ON THE GROUND RIGHT NOW BECAUSE HER 19 YEAR OLD SON’S GONE. PLANE CRASHED. I FEEL LIKE THE INCREDIBLE EMERGENCY LANDING ON A BUSY PALM BEACH COUNTY STREET BY THAT TEENAGE PILOT WHOSE PLANE’S ENGINE FAILED. BROUGHT TO YOU AS BREAKING NEWS EARLIER THIS EVENING. THE EMERGENCY LANDING HAPPENING ON INDIANTOWN ROAD IN JUPITER. THAT 19 YEAR-OLD PILOT FLYING A CESSNA 150 WITH A FRIEND SHOWING HIM NORTHERN PALM BEACH COUNTY WHEN HE REALIZED THE ENGINE WAS FAILING, AND MULTIPLE ATTEMPTS AT TROUBLESHOOTING UNTIL HE REALIZED HE NEEDED A SAFE PLACE TO LAND. THE OPTION RIGHT THERE ON INDIANTOWN ROAD AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL, KNOWING HE WAS GOING TO ATTEMPT TO LAND IN THE STREET. INCREDIBLY, HE WAS ABLE TO DO IT SAFELY. GOOD EVENING, AND THANK YOU FOR JOINING US HERE AT 10:00. I’M TODD MCDERMOTT. THE SCENE WHERE THE PLANE LANDED REMAINS ACTIVE AFTER THIS HAPPENED EARLIER THIS AFTERNOON. OUR REPORTER, ARI HAIT IS THERE LIVE. ARI, WHAT ELSE DO WE KNOW TONIGHT? WELL, TODD, THEY TOLD THE PLANE AWAY ABOUT 20 OR 30 MINUTES AGO OR SO. THESE ARE THE WINGS FROM THAT PLANE. THEY LITERALLY HAD TO TAKE THE PLANE APART PIECE BY PIECE IN ORDER TO GET IT OUT OF HERE. BUT DESPITE THAT, IT WAS STILL A LOT EASIER TO GET IT OUT OF HERE THAN IT WAS TO GET IT HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE. NOTHING SHORT OF A MIRACLE TO BE HERE ALIVE. NOT A SCRATCH AND NOT BLEEDING FROM ANYWHERE. IT’S FAR FROM THE FIRST TIME 19 YEAR OLD NIKO BRAY HAS FLOWN A PLANE. IT IS, HOWEVER, THE FIRST TIME HE’S EVER LANDED A PLANE ON INDIANTOWN ROAD IN JUPITER. I’VE TRAVELED DOWN THIS ROAD HUNDREDS OF TIMES AND TURNING IT INTO AN AIRPORT FOR THE DAY WAS NOT WHAT I WAS EXPECTING TO DO. JUST AFTER 2 P.M. FRIDAY, NIKO AND A FRIEND WERE FLYING, CHECKING OUT THE BEACHES. NIKO SAYS FROM OUT OF NOWHERE. THE PLANE LOST POWER. THEN IT HIT ME LIKE, NO, THIS IS REAL. LIKE I ACTUALLY DON’T HAVE ANY POWER TO CLIMB RIGHT NOW I NEED TO. I STARTED LOOKING AT THE GROUND IMMEDIATELY, FIND A SPOT TO LAND, AND FOR HIM, THE BEST SPOT WAS INDIANTOWN ROAD, ONE OF THE BUSIEST ROADS IN ALL OF PALM BEACH COUNTY. HE FLEW OVER IT ABOUT TWO MILES OR SO, AND THEN HE GOT SOME HELP FROM A TRUCK DRIVER WHO USED HIS VEHICLE TO SLOW TRAFFIC. GIVE HIM ROOM TO LAND. AT THAT POINT, I DIDN’T HAVE ANY MORE POWER. AIR SPEED TO KEEP UP. SO I JUST. NICE PAVED ROAD RIGHT HERE. MIGHT AS WELL SET IT DOWN THERE. NIKO SAYS IT WAS JUST LIKE LANDING ON A RUNWAY. NO SCRATCHES TO THE PLANE, NO INJURIES TO ANY PEOPLE. ABOUT 30 MINUTES LATER, HIS MOM SHOWED UP, GLAD TO BE ABLE TO HUG HER AGAIN FOR SURE. YOU KNOW, AND NIKO SAYS THAT IS WHEN IT HIT HIM. HOW CLOSE HE CAME TO DYING. YOU COULD HEAR HER CRYING ON THE GROUND RIGHT NOW BECAUSE HER 19 YEAR OLD SON IS GONE IN A PLANE CRASH. SO MUCH PRIDE, BUT MOSTLY, THANK GOD THAT HE’S OKAY. THEY WERE TAKING FOR GRANTED. YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN THE LAST DAY YOU GET TO TALK TO YOUR PARENTS OR YOUR FAMILY WILL BE. SO WHEN YOU GET THAT TIME WITH THEM, ENJOY IT. WE ASKED NIKO IF THIS WAS GOING TO STOP HIM FROM FLYING AGAIN. HE SAID FLYING HAS BEEN HIS DREAM EVER SINCE HE WAS A LITTLE KID. THIS IS MOST CERTAINLY NOT GOING TO CHANGE THAT. HE SAYS HE CAN’T WAIT
19-year-old pilot safely lands Cessna on Jupiter roadway after experiencing engine failure
Updated: 7:11 AM EST Mar 7, 2026
A Cessna aircraft made an emergency landing on Indiantown Road in Martin County after its engine began to fail during a flight.Nico Bray, the 19-year-old pilot, said he was flying with a friend after taking off from Indiantown in Martin County and was showing him different parts of north Palm Beach County when he realized the engine started to fail. He tried different troubleshooting methods and then realized he had to land the plane somewhere safe, with the only spot possible being Indiantown Road. Bray said that as they got lower and lower, he called into air traffic control, telling them he was going to land in the street. They were able to do that safely, with no injuries, and fortunately, no drivers on the road at the time.Bray said he plans to take a couple of weeks off from flying but will be right back in the air.
JUPITER, Fla. —
A Cessna aircraft made an emergency landing on Indiantown Road in Martin County after its engine began to fail during a flight.
Nico Bray, the 19-year-old pilot, said he was flying with a friend after taking off from Indiantown in Martin County and was showing him different parts of north Palm Beach County when he realized the engine started to fail.
He tried different troubleshooting methods and then realized he had to land the plane somewhere safe, with the only spot possible being Indiantown Road.
Bray said that as they got lower and lower, he called into air traffic control, telling them he was going to land in the street. They were able to do that safely, with no injuries, and fortunately, no drivers on the road at the time.
Bray said he plans to take a couple of weeks off from flying but will be right back in the air.