Two people suffered minor injuries in plane crash

DELEON SPRINGS, Fla. (FOX 35 WOFL) - The Volusia County Sheriff's Office and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are investigating a plane crash in Volusia County.

Fire rescue officials say a private, single engine plane crashed in DeLeon Springs around 3:30 p.m. Sunday. 

Karen Henry, a woman living in the area, saw the plane go down. “I looked over and it just kept going down, down, down and boom. Then it hit and it flipped," she said. She immediately ran to help the two people out of the plane. 

“The guy was actually crawling out of the window. The door had busted open and I ran back home to help the other gentleman. He was stuck in the seatbelt," Henry went on to say.

The pilot later told deputies the engine failed in the air, causing them to land in the field.  He also admitted that he misjudged the slope of the ground and the front wheel caught the grass, causing the  aircraft to flip over.

Fire rescue officials sent a hazmat crew to the scene to make sure there wasn’t any fuel leaking.

Officials said the pilot, Herbert Weens, and his passenger, Kenneth Brownell, were conscious and breathing when paramedics arrived. 

Henry spoke to Brownell as she pulled him out of the plane. She said that “the one guy was 89-years-old. He said that was his birthday present. Today was the plane ride. They’re both very lucky and blessed to be alive.”