Bob Davis, who helps work the land and livestock for the Harper Cattle Company, LLC Ranch in Waxahachie, had his 4th of July start unexpectantly while standing on his front porch. Davis saw what seemed to be an airplane loosing altitude and crashing down into a pasture full of cattle across from his house.

A little after 8:30 a.m., Davis contacted fellow Harper Cattle Company Ranch worker Brentley Byers and explained he had just seen a plane crash in one of the pastures.

Davis and Byers both made their way through the gates to an open field, where in fact the pilot of a restored Navy/Air Force prop plane had made a desperate crash landing.

The plane was one in a group of three planes that had just left the Mid-way Regional Airport on their way to perform in an air show.

Within minutes after take off, 72 year old John Williams Sledge realized he was having mechanical problems. Trying to make his way back to the landing strip, he realized a crash was inevitable. Sledge then turned off the fuel pump and also killed the power entirely as to reduce the chances of a spark igniting the fuel.

To pick up wind resistance to help slow the plane before impact, the experienced pilot pointed the plane’s nose toward the strong winds blowing from the south.

Davis and some other eye witnesses arrived to the scene first after Sledge had already crawled out of the wreckage. Davis actually shut down the plane as one of the other pilots had been circling from above to make sure ground crews could spot the downed plane.

Davis checked on the injured Sledge and then gave a thumbs up to hovering pilot that returned to the airport and then back again in a helicopter.

The plane had skipped off the ground and then headed upward toward power lines. Fortunately, the plane went just below the power lines and skidded off the ground once more before coming to a relatively safe landing, about 250 feet from where the plane had first made contact with the ground.

In fact, the former Vietnam pilot, had just managed to survive what was the second plane crash in his life. His first crash happened during the Vietnam War.

DPS officers, the Ellis County Sheriff’s Department, the Waxahachie Police Department along with Ovilla and Waxahachie fire vehicles were all on the scene.

Sledge’s most obvious injuries were a laceration across the front of his head and across his back. He was taken away by a medical helicopter to the Methodist Hospital in Dallas.

No cattle were injured but some plane debris could be seen scattered across the field.