Pilot and Deputy survive Guntersville plane crash

Chief Deputy Matthew Wade

An Etowah county pilot and Calhoun County Chief Deputy Matthew Wade were both uninjured after the plane they were in crashed into Lake Guntersville Sunday evening.  The Pilot,  Tom Bonds of Southside said he tried to make an emergency landing at the Guntersville Airport, but fell short when the engine failed.  The Piper Lance aircraft belonging to Bonds went into Lake Guntersville at about 5:30 Sunday afternoon He and passenger Calhoun county chief deputy Matthew Wade, made it out of the plane relatively unharmed.  Bonds was not injured, while Wade suffered a gash on his head for which he declined treatment or transport to the hospital.  This was the second time Wade has walked away from a failed aircraft unharmed.  He said he flew a powered parachute for work in May in which the motor failed. He was about 700 feet in the air, he said, and knew he had about 30 seconds from the time the motor failed to being on the ground.  A power line pulled him from the aircraft before it landed on Highway 29 near Anniston.  Guntersville Airport Manager Matthew Metcalfe said the Federal Aviation Administration will investigate the cause of the crash this week, along with the National Transportation Safety Board.