A plane crashed yesterday afternoon into a farm field south of 160th street in Marshall County. The Marshall County Communications Center received a call at 1 p.m. yesterday from a pilot who said he crashed a plane in a cornfield somewhere northwest of the Marshalltown airport and said he was trapped in the upside down plane.

“They kept losing connection and really couldn’t get a good location on where he could be,” Marshall County Sheriff Joel Phillips said.

Sheriff’s deputies and first responders were dispatched, as well as a spotter plane from Marshalltown Aviation to help locate the crashed plane. The plane was eventually found at about the 2400th mile of 160th Street in a cornfield in Marshall County at 1:22 p.m.

Phillips said locating the plane was extremely difficult given the conditions, with the plane being very small and amongst tall corn. Along with five sheriff’s deputies, Albion first responders, Liscomb first responders, Albion Fire Department, Clemons Fire Department, Liscomb Fire Department and Marshalltown Fire and Rescue were all dispatched to help locate the downed plane.

From the investigation so far, Phillips said it appears the plane was having mechanical issues and the pilot tried to make it back to the airport. The pilot then realized the plane wasn’t going to make it back to the airport and then attempted to land on the blacktop of 160th street, but instead the plane landed in the tall corn.

“What happens is the corn kind of grabs onto the wings and flips the plane upside down,” Phillips said. “That’s kind of a common crash scene we find with these aircrafts.”

Deputies from the Marshall County Sheriff’s Office helped free the pilot who was taken to the hospital to be treated for minor injuries. The plane itself received heavy damage and is a total loss.

The Federal Aviation Administration will investigate the plane crash.

“I just want to thank all of the first responders,” Phillips said. “These are the difficult calls that we get where someone needs help and we just can’t locate them. It just takes cooperation amongst a lot of different agencies to come to a successful resolution.”