Uninjured, They Went On To The Alabama-Ole Miss Game Leaving Local Authorities Scratching Their Heads

A group of fans heading to the Alabama-Ole Miss football game aboard a Cessna 421 Saturday proved that for some fans, football is the most important thing. The plane went down after suffering engine problems following a lunch stop in Selma, AL, and attempted a forced landing on a dirt road, but wound up in the middle of a cotton field leaking fuel about 20 miles from Craig Field in Selma.

The emergency landing was a good one. All four occupants were apparently uninjured in the accident. Television station WPMI in Mobile, AL, reports that the plane's pilot, George Arnold, said the plane clipped trees with both wings as it attempted to land on the road. It came to a stop in the cotton field, and all four occupants reportedly knelt down in a circle and "said a prayer to Jesus" for their safety.

The story might end there, but there was a football game to get to. So, when a farmer who lived nearby and had seen the plane go down got to the field, the men convinced him to take them to a rental car company where they rented a car and drove on to the game. They made it to the stadium by kickoff time.

However, when Dallas County Sheriff's officers got to the accident scene, they were understandably puzzled to find a lightly-damaged airplane and no one around to explain what had happened.

The legality of leaving the scene of an airplane accident was unclear. The NTSB was expected to remove the plane from the field Tuesday.

FMI: www.ntsb.gov