Plane crashes onto lawn mower operator, severs his hand, North Carolina, USA |

The crash occurred at North Carolina’s Taylorsville Airport Saturday afternoon. The 84-year-old pilot, Edward Sisson, walked away without injuries, but lawn mower operator John Rufty is listed in critical condition at local hospital

A small plane crash-landed right onto a man riding a lawn mower, chopping off his hand.

Edward Eugene Sisson, the 84-year-old pilot of the single-engine plane, collided with a lawn mower operator while landing at North Carolina’s Taylorsville Airport Saturday afternoon.

Sisson is an experienced pilot who was flying in from Crossville, Tenn., to visit family in Taylorsville, State Highway Patrol Sergeant Brian Owenby told the Daily News.

The airman was traveling east toward a grass landing strip at the small privately-owned airport. His unlucky victim, 74-year-old John Rufty, was also traveling east on his lawn mower.

The airport doesn’t have a traffic controller, so there was no one to warn Rufty about the incoming plane.

“(Rufty) wouldn’t have been able to hear or see the plane coming,” Owenby said. “And the pilot was unable to see the driver until just before impact.”

The propeller of the plane clipped into Rufty, completely severing the man’s left hand.

Both the plane and the mower flipped over during the accident. The pilot was able to walk away from the crash without any injuries. The victim was airlifted to the Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, Russell Greene, director of emergency services for Alexander County, told The News.