Escambia Bay is a bay

Bay

A bay is an area of water mostly surrounded by land. Bays generally have calmer waters than the surrounding sea, due to the surrounding land blocking some waves and often reducing winds. Bays also exist as an inlet in a lake or pond. A large bay may be called a gulf, a sea, a sound, or a bight...

 located mostly in Santa Rosa County and partly in Escambia County, Florida

Escambia County, Florida

Escambia County is the westernmost county in the U.S. state of Florida. The 2010 population was 297,619. The U.S. Census Bureau 2005 estimate for the county is 296,772. Its county seat is Pensacola.- History :...

, in the far western Florida Panhandle

Florida Panhandle

The Florida Panhandle, an informal, unofficial term for the northwestern part of Florida, is a strip of land roughly 200 miles long and 50 to 100 miles wide , lying between Alabama on the north and the west, Georgia also on the north, and the Gulf of Mexico to the south. Its eastern boundary is...

. The city of Pensacola

Pensacola, Florida

Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County, Florida, United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2009, the estimated population was 53,752...

 is located on the western side, and the town of Milton

Milton, Florida

Milton , or Milltown, because Milton had the largest mill around) is a city in Santa Rosa County, Florida, United States. The city was incorporated in 1844 and is home to Naval Air Station Whiting Field. The population was 7,045 at the 2000 census. In 2004, the population recorded by the U.S...

 is located on the northeastern end of the two-pronged bay. Both places are the county seat

County seat

A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....

s of the respective counties. Unusually, Escambia Bay is connected to open waters via Pensacola Bay

Pensacola Bay

Pensacola Bay is a bay located in the northwestern part of Florida, United States, known as the Florida Panhandle.The bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, is located in Escambia County and Santa Rosa County, adjacent to the city of Pensacola, Florida, and is about 13 miles long and 2.5 miles ...

 to its southeast. It is fed primarily by the Escambia River

Conecuh River

The Conecuh River and Escambia River constitute a single river in Alabama and Florida in the United States.The Conecuh River rises near Union Springs in the state and flows in a general southwesterly direction into Florida near Century. The river's name changes from the Conecuh to the Escambia at...

.

National Airlines Flight 193

National Airlines Flight 193

National Airlines Flight 193, registration N4744NA, Donna, was a Boeing 727-235 en route from Miami, Florida to New Orleans, Louisiana on May 8, 1978. It was scheduled with stops at Melbourne, Tampa, Pensacola and Mobile, Alabama. The accident occurred at night in low visibility from fog...

, a Boeing 727

Boeing 727

The Boeing 727 is a mid-size, narrow-body, three-engine, T-tailed commercial jet airliner, manufactured by Boeing. The Boeing 727 first flew in 1963, and for over a decade more were built per year than any other jet airliner. When production ended in 1984 a total of 1,832 aircraft had been produced...

, crashed into Escambia Bay during a descent into Pensacola Regional Airport

Pensacola Regional Airport

Pensacola International Airport is a public airport located within the city of Pensacola in Escambia County, Florida.- Facilities :Pensacola International Airport covers and has two runways:...

 on May 8, 1978. There were 3 fatalities among the 58 people on board.

During Hurricane Ivan

Hurricane Ivan

Hurricane Ivan was a large, long-lived, Cape Verde-type hurricane that caused widespread damage in the Caribbean and United States. The cyclone was the ninth named storm, the sixth hurricane and the fourth major hurricane of the active 2004 Atlantic hurricane season...

 in September 2004, the storm surge

Storm surge

A storm surge is an offshore rise of water associated with a low pressure weather system, typically tropical cyclones and strong extratropical cyclones. Storm surges are caused primarily by high winds pushing on the ocean's surface. The wind causes the water to pile up higher than the ordinary sea...

 from the Gulf of Mexico

Gulf of Mexico

The Gulf of Mexico is a partially landlocked ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent and the island of Cuba. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. In...

 came in to Escambia Bay, washing out the Interstate 10

Interstate 10

Interstate 10 is the fourth-longest Interstate Highway in the United States, after I-90, I-80, and I-40. It is the southernmost east–west, coast-to-coast Interstate Highway, although I-4 and I-8 are further south. It stretches from the Pacific Ocean at State Route 1 in Santa Monica,...

 bridge

Bridge

A bridge is a structure built to span physical obstacles such as a body of water, valley, or road, for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle...

over the bay.