4 OK after plane equipped with parachute goes down

PICKENS, S.C. (AP) — An official says four occupants of a small airplane escaped serious injury when the plane’s engine stalled and the pilot deployed a parachute that brought the craft safely into a stand of trees in northwestern South Carolina.

Pickens County Sheriff’s Capt. Keith Galloway said it happened about 5 p.m. Sunday.

He said the plane had taken off from another state and happened to be near Pickens County’s airport when the engine quit. The pilot sought to land there, but the plane parachuted down about a mile and a half away.

Galloway said the craft came to rest about 15 to 20 feet up in a stand of trees. Multiple emergency response agencies helped free the occupants. Galloway said they were checked by medical personnel, but there were no life-threatening injuries.