BATH COUNTY (WSLS 10) - Two people have rescue crews in Bath County to thank for saving their lives.
A man and woman crash landed in a small plane in the town of Healing Springs on Friday afternoon.
After the plane crash landed, crews from Bath County, Highland County and state police converged on its location and had to battle the elements to get the two passengers to safety.
1st Sgt. Anthony Nicely with Virginia State Police said the RV-10 Model plane was trying to make its way from Louisville, Kentucky to Annapolis, Maryland.
"As they started approaching the weather, the fog set in on them and they were going to try to jump off or land at Ingalls Airport in Bath County. Prior to being able to do that, they got into heavy fog and just crashed into the side of the mountain," explained Nicely.
When crews arrived there was no road that led to the plane.
"They had to cut their way in and essentially cut their way out and just manpower carried these guys out," continued Nicely.
When emergency responders got to the victims, they found good news
"Non-life threatening injuries, some broken bones and lacerations," said Nicely.
Next came the difficult process of getting the man and woman out of the plane and down the mountain.
"It's a slow process because of the weather and the grading back there is extremely steep, so it's going to take probably a half hour or so to get the first one out," explained Nicely.
The two were safely loaded into an ambulance on the opposite side of the mountain from the staging area and then taken to Bath County Hospital.
Nicely said it's the best outcome they could hope for, "a good ending to a long evening."
One of the struggles crews faced was that they couldn't airlift these people due to fog and visibility concerns, so they had to be carried down to the ambulance on what is known as open trail.
Crews said its remarkable that both passengers survived.