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.
[ Photos: Plane crashes in Voluisa County ]
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.