BRANDENTON, Fla. (AP) — Federal aviation authorities are on the scene of a small plane crash in Hillsborough County.

A sheriff’s office statement says the plane is a small experimental ultra-lite fixed wing. It crashed Sunday morning after leaving the Manatee Airport in Bradenton.

The pilot, 82-year-old Eugene Massa, reported that after reaching 300 feet, the plane began to have engine problems and went down in a cow pasture.

Massa was alert and talking when he was airlifted to Blake Hospital. He was the only person on the plane at the time.