CROSSVILLE (WATE) - A small plane crashed Tuesday morning in Cumberland County.
Director Keith Garrison of the Cumberland County Emergency Management Agency told 6 News a small, experimental plane crashed at the Crossville Memorial Airport around 9:40 a.m. EST, 8:40 a.m. CST.
The 20-foot plane just missed power lines and a nearby wooded area.
"They had just taken off from the runway when this happened and luckily they landed in this grassy area," said Crossville Fire Chief Mike Turner.
The airport is located on Highway 70 between Crossville and Sparta.
Husband and wife Phillip and Marian Cashmer, both 72, of Winter Haven, Florida were injured and were airlifted to Erlanger Medical Center in Chattanooga.
The couple was reported to be in critical condition at the hospital on Tuesday afternoon.
A friend and fellow experimental plane pilot said the Cashmers survived because of the pilot's quick thinking.
"Had he been any less of a pilot he would have died in that hill, but he landed it flat which is the key to surviving a plane crash," said John Davis of the American Sonex Association.
Davis was with the Cashmers this weekend at the ninth annual American Sonex Association's Fly In at the Crossville airport.
He said they had just finished building the plane this summer, and this was the first year they were able to show it off at the Fly In.
"You have to fly 40 hours off before you can leave the 25 mile-radius of your home base. He had finished that and made all the appropriate log book entries and he and Marian flew up here," said Davis.
Davis has a Sonex plane and said the planes are built like tanks. He doesn't understand how this could happen.
"Why, why, why?" asked Davis. "I want to get my hands on that plane to see what happened to Phil."
The airport was closed to deal with the incident, but has since been reopened.
The plane crashed just before 10:00 a.m. Tuesday.
The plane was removed by a crane later in the afternoon.
"Had he been any less of a pilot he would have died in that hill," said Davis.
