The small plane, an ultralight that only holds one person, apparently crashed in a wooded area near Wollet Mill Road in Red Oak around 8 p.m.
At 9:30 p.m. a helicopter took off from the scene carrying the pilot, Roger Shanks, to Duke Medical Center. EMS workers say Shanks had head and facial injuries. Wednesday, he was listed in stable condition.
Neighbors said that they heard the plane flying over their houses just seconds before it crashed deep in the woods.
"I saw the plane fly over, and we were watching it as it went on over out of sight," one resident said. "Once it was out of site we heard an awful commotion over there, and didn't hear the engines running anymore. So we knew that he had crashed. So I ran into the house and called 911."
Neighbors say that Shanks may have lived in the area, and was trying to reach a private airstrip on the other side of the woods.
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