The pilot of a small plane walked away from an emergency landing in a field south of Belgrade on Saturday morning.
Neighbors near the landing site say the pilot complained of a stiff back, but was otherwise unhurt when his small, home built plane came down in a field within 200 feet of a home.
Those living nearby say the pilot told them his engine quit at about 800 feet and he was trying to make an emergency landing in an adjacent farm field.
On the way down he clipped the top of a tree and made a hard landing next to a home. The landing ripped the wheels from the experimental plane and left a gouge in the field. There's some other light damage to the plane, but it is mostly intact.
The pilot had left the scene by the time news crews arrived. The Gallatin County Sheriff's Department is investigating the crash.
- John Sherer reporting from Z7 in Bozeman