‘My engine went out and I had to land it;’ 911 call released after plane crashes in Preble County

PREBLE COUNTY — Deputies are investigating after a small plane crashed in Preble County Tuesday night.

>> PHOTOS: Man crashes plane in Preble County

Dispatchers received a call from a resident in the 2000 block of Oxford Gettysburg Road reporting that a man was at their door and he had just landed his plane in their field, according to Preble County Sheriff Mike Simpson.

“I just had a young man come up to our house and say the plane just landed in our field and flipped over, he walked up here,” the caller said. “I was just outside. I don’t know what’s going on.”

The preliminary investigation found that the pilot, identified as Samuel Sell, 29, of Dayton, was experiencing engine trouble while flying in the area, Simpson said.

Sell also spoked to dispatchers telling them his engine went out and he tried to land the plane.

“I tried shooting for the road but I ran out of airspeed,” he said. “My engine went out and I had to land it.”

According to Simpson, during the landing the plane flipped and came to a rest on its top. Sell, the only person in the plane, was able to free himself from the cockpit.

Sell was taken to Reid Memorial Hospital in Richmond with non-life-threatening injuries.

Eaton Fire & EMS and the Ohio Highway Patrol responded to the scene along with deputies.

The crash remains under investigation by the sheriff’s office and the Federal Aviation Administration.

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