Fuquay-Varina woman hears a knock at the door, finds injured pilot who escaped crash

A pilot experienced a close call Saturday when his plane went down in a field in Fuquay-Varina.

The pilot, 67-year-old Rold Grandstaff, was taken to Harnett Central Hospital for treatment of minor injuries after crawling to a nearby house, where a family provided help.

The plane went down in the Penley family’s backyard, but they didn’t hear a crash, only a knock at the door.

“This gentleman came to the door and said, ‘My plane had crashed’ and he said, ‘I need help,” Tammy Penley said. “He was very bruised, very cut up. He had several lacerations.”

Authorities in Harnett County said Grandstaff was flying a single-engine private plane when he started having engine issues. He turned the engine off, then coasted into a field behind the Penleys’ home, where the plane flipped over.

“You could see where he had crawled out of the window and where he broke the window and the stuff laying around it,” Penley said.

Penley immediately offered help, first calling 911.

“I called the ambulance and they told us what to do. I got a washcloth and held it on top of his head. He had a pretty serious wound on his head,” she said.

Grandstaff is expected to be OK, and Penley credits a little help from above.

“I’m just thankful he’s alive because, when you see those pictures, it was God that protected him and kept him safe,” she said.