An unidentified crop dusting pilot suffered burns after a plane crash near Britt in northern Iowa on Tuesday afternoon. A witness to the accident, farmer Jim Mattox who lives nearby, said he believes the pilot was having engine trouble and hit either a power line or power pole before crashing into a cornfield.

Mattox says he saw a ball of flame and it took a few seconds for the sounds of the explosion to reach him being a couple miles away. He says he’s amazed the pilot is still alive, considering the circumstances.

Hancock County Sheriff Scott Dodd says the plane flipped upside down and the pilot did manage to get out and was found standing in a corn field some 100 yards away from the plane. Sheriff Dodd says the field was secured and federal authorities will come in and investigate the incident further.

He says the victim initially was taken to the hospital at Britt and then transferred to Mercy Medical Center North Iowa and then the burn unit at University of Iowa Hospital at Iowa City. The victim’s name and condition were not immediately released.

By Chuck Shockley, KLGA, Algona