SHADY HILLS, FL -- The Pasco County Sheriff's says both men involved in a plane crash in the Pilot Country area are in critical condition.
Just after 2:30 pm EMS received reports of a plane down near Leland Avenue and US 41 near Pilot Country Airport.
According to the Pasco Sheriff's Office, 2 men were on board the Piper PA-28 aircraft when it crashed. Witnesses said the plane was trying to land on runway 36, but crashed well short of it and didn't make it onto airport property.
The fixed wing single engine aircraft was heavily damaged. The nose of the plane was crunched in and the left wing was snapped.
Both the pilot and passenger were initially trapped inside the aircraft, and a witness helped pull at least one of the men out of the plane.
Just minutes after the plane slammed into the ground, emergency responders began treating the two injured men.
"You could see they were bloody. Paramedics and firefighters worked on them quickly and got them out of here," said Lt. Brett Landsberg.
John Perkins says he was one of the first people to the crash scene.
"They was moving their hands and talking to them," he said.
Both were flown to St. Joseph's Hospital in Tampa with serious leg injuries. The sheriff's office identified the men as pilot 49-year-old Art Michaud and his brother-in-law, 46-year-old Anthony Parisi and says both are listed in critical condition.
It's been a difficult day for Audrey Sargeant, Michaud's daughter.
"He said the engine quit, she said, "He loves flying, he has been a pilot for some time."
The pair had taken off from the same airport and were trying to land when the crash happened.
Pilot Country is an aviation community located in rural Pasco County with single family homes and hangars with small runways.
