Deputies: Man, woman survive plane crash near Port Orange

VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. — A man and a woman survived a plane crash early Friday near Port Orange, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office said.

Alan Kanabay, 65, and Wendy Kanabay, 64, both of Illinois, were aboard a small plane when it crashed shortly before 6:45 a.m. near the Spruce Creek Fly-In, Sheriff's Office spokesman Andrew Gant said.

The plane crashed in a wooded area shortly after takeoff, Gant said.

"I thought it was a tree that fell down. It sounded like nothing too severe, and it wasn't until five minutes later I heard my dad run into the house saying a plane had crashed," said neighbor Cody Fulbright.

Deputies said it took firefighters an hour to extricate the pair from the wreckage.

Both were taken to Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach in stable condition.

“It’s great to know they are all right,” Fulbright said. “It’s nerve-wracking to know it was right there near the house, and it really could have happened right there at our house."

Investigators said a witness called 911 to report that the plane had flipped and that it was missing its wings.

"He’s moving; he answered me," the witness said in a 911 call. "I’m going to go out to the road so I can direct the responders. Tell them to come to my house and I’ll get them out into the swamp."

The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the cause of the crash.

Cox Media Group