MARYVILLE, Tenn. — Wayne LeQuire and his friend, Pam Kagley, set off on a flight from Wayne's farm on Sunday-- something they do multiple times a week.
"We flew for about 20 minutes, 25 minutes up over the Walland Gap area," LeQuire said.
This time, LeQuire said the engine on his plane stopped working. In the woods, he was looking for a place to land.
LeQuire said his training kicked in. He kept the nose of his Aeronca 7AC propeller plane tilted down, to conserve airspeed, but needed a place to land quickly.
He said he tried to make it to one of UT's agriculture campuses, which was close by, but the plane was sinking too quickly.
"At that point, I saw that we were pretty much doomed in terms of having a nice landing," LeQuire said. "I told [Kagley] we were going down the hard way."
"In my mind, I'm thinking, we're not going to make it, we're going to die?" Kagley said.
LeQuire landed in the middle of trees. He said the plane turned. The crash impact ripped his seat off of the airplane. LeQuire said his head went towards the dash, cutting the top of his nose.
Both LeQuire and Kagley said they started walking from the crash site.
"We got out of the plane and never even looked back," Kagley said.
LeQuire said he left his cell phone in his car, so he couldn't call for help. He said it took him and Kagley three-and-a-half hours to hike to that UT Agriculture Research site, where they got help.
One of the people who worked there called the Blount County Sheriff's Office. They sent LeQuire to the hospital for medical treatment, Kagley refused.
"I was squirting blood, but I was proud to walk off from that airplane," LeQuire said.
He got stitches on his nose and said that's the only injury he has. Kagley said she has bruises and a stiff neck, from the crash, and cuts from hiking in the forest because she was wearing shorts.
"He saved our lives," Kagley said.
"I did what I was supposed to do as a pilot," LeQuire said. "Nothing more, nothing less."
LeQuire credits his flight instructor for the successful landing. He said he started flying 49 years ago, and his instructor would make him practice flying while the engine was idled.
"He was a stickler on that and that has paid off for me," LeQuire said. "Saved my life."
Both LeQuire and Kagley have hiked up to the crash site multiple times to see how they would be able to recover the airplane.
LeQuire is an avid airman and said he'll be back in the air. He said he'll just remember his cell phone next time.