---
title: "Van Driver Survives Four-Story Fall Off Parking Garage at Miami International Airport"
description: "Authorities say 59-year-old Orlando Luna was behind the wheel of the E-Series van"
date: "2018-06-04"
modified: "2018-06-04"
authors:
  - name: "Kyle Cheromcha"
    job_title: "Editor-in-Chief"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/kyle-cheromcha"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/news/21288/van-driver-survives-four-story-fall-off-parking-garage-at-miami-international-airport"
categories:
  - "News"
tags:
  - "Crash"
  - "Florida"
  - "Miami"
  - "Van"
---

# Van Driver Survives Four-Story Fall Off Parking Garage at Miami International Airport

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2018/06/van-garage.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

An American Airlines employee is lucky to be alive after driving a Ford passenger van off the fourth floor of a Miami International Airport [parking garage](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/18258/this-unbelievable-car-collection-hides-in-plain-sight-in-an-office-parking-garage>) and falling more than fifty feet to the pavement below, [*ABC 10 News* reports.](<https://www.local10.com/news/florida/miami-dade/van-falls-from-fourth-floor-of-parking-garage-at-miami-international-airport>)

Authorities say 59-year-old Orlando Luna was behind the wheel of the [E-Series van](<https://www.thedrive.com/article/5739/sportsmobile-4x4-vans-are-all-the-rage-in-adventure-travel>) when it crashed through the low wall on the side of the garage, flipped over in mid-air, and landed on its roof. The impact almost flattened the van and crushed nearly all of its structural pillars. Crucially, the A-pillar supporting the windshield and protecting the driver is the only thing that held up, which is probably why Luna was able to escape serious injury.

https://youtube.com/embed/KqJMd52xREc

[As with the last incident](<https://www.thedrive.com/watch-this/13422/video-shows-car-plunge-7-stories-off-parking-garage-narrowly-miss-suv>) we covered where someone took the fast way down from a high floor, it's an impressive demonstration of how safety standards have made modern vehicles far, far safer [than their vintage counterparts.](<https://www.thedrive.com/news/5798/nissan-tsuru-vs-sentra-crash-test-shows-why-you-shouldnt-sell-25-year-old-new-cars>) That's a few tons of steel hitting the ground at over 40 mph at one of the van's weakest points, and yet Luna got away with "scrapes and bruises," according to a statement from American Airlines.

It would probably be a different story for any of his passengers, but thankfully he was the sole occupant on Florida's newest and shortest-lived thrill ride. There's also some speculation that the van struck a palm tree on the way down, which may have helped break its fall a little. Miami-Dade police haven't determined the cause of the accident yet, [though unlike that scene](<https://www.cinemablend.com/news/1648030/why-that-insane-fate-of-the-furious-car-dropping-stunt-was-so-expensive-to-produce>) from *The Fate of the Furious,* it seems like plain old unintentional acceleration is a likely suspect.

https://youtube.com/embed/bwhDJGPm7RY

## Author
Overseeing an expert staff of writers and editors from his lair in Los Angeles, Kyle shapes The Drive’s singular approach to covering the automotive industry and car culture. He’s been with the site as a writer since 2017, taking over as editor in 2019. On a daily basis, Kyle is responsible for directing The Drive's editorial news and car review content strategies, setting special coverage priorities, managing complex reporting projects, and ensuring what you read on the page meets our high internal standards for quality and trustworthiness. He is also the executive producer of The Drive's YouTube channel, which was relaunched in February 2024 to great acclaim and has accumulated over 14M new views in its first year back on the scene. He hosts a biweekly series on the channel where he breaks down fascinating and complicated stories from the automotive world.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/kylecheromcha.bsky.social>)  
[Instagram](<https://www.instagram.com/kylecheromcha>)  
[LinkedIn](<https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-cheromcha-1550248a/>)