Plane crashes in Maryland Heights field

KSDK-- It was a flight they'll never forget.

A pilot and his friend took off from Creve Couer Airport Sunday afternoon. The plane climbed about 100 feet and then the engine died.

 The Boeing Stearman PT-17 World War II primary trainer landed vertically after crashing into a field of birch trees in Maryland Heights near the Page Avenue Extension just west of the Maryland Heights Expressway.

The Missouri Highway Patrol is investigating

"The plane lost power two times, " said Trooper Sam Buchheit. "The pilot decided he had no choice but to make a crash landing."

The pilot, Al Stix, 73, has been flying planes since 1963.

"These old airplanes are built strong, Stix said. " They really are."

Al Stix is pretty strong too. He and his passenger survived the crash with a few cuts and scrapes.

"We got up. " Stix said. "It seemed to run fine and we got up over here, then it quit. Then it started, then that was the end of it."

His friend, who lives in England, agreed to go up in the plane for a little adventure. That is him after the crash phoning his parents back home.

Stix says he's not discouraged. He plans to replace the plane's wings, fix the rest and hopefully fly again next spring.