A pilot from Gainesville escaped serious injury when he tried to making an emergency landing in a field near Franklin, North Carolina and instead the plane flipped over.
WLOS News 13 in Asheville, North Carolina identified the pilot as Doug Finner.
Finner told the TV station he was forced to land when the single-engine Cessna Skycatcher lost power to the engine. As he approached the pasture on the east side of US 441/Georgia Road, Finner said he swerved to avoid a tree, hit an embankment and then overturned.
Finner said he was able to free himself from the plane because his seatbelt held him in place.
Finner was flying to Macon County, North Carolina from Gainesville. The crash occurred around 10 a.m.
According to information from the Federal Aviation Administration's Civil Aviation Registry, the plane was registered to Lanier Equipment Leasing, LLC in Gainesville. The company refused comment on the incident when contacted by phone Friday afternoon.
