WASHINGTON — Talk about beating the odds. One of the two local pilots who survived a small plane crash near Ft. Meade is speaking about the incident.

After spending five days in the hospital, 57-year-old Jeff Barnett went home Friday.

“I’m just grateful to be home with my wife,” the Glen Burnie resident told ABC 7.

Barnett is bruised with broken bones, but he’s lucky to be alive.

“We lost power [at] about 250 feet, shortly after takeoff,” Barnett said.

He and his passenger, 82-year old Thomas Cline of Silver Spring, were in Barnett’s two-seater plane.  They had just taken off Feb. 8 from the Tipton Airport.

Barnett, who’s been a pilot for 40 years, tried for a soft landing on the treetops. The plane ended up crashing to the ground and landing upside down with the two men were trapped inside.

Barnett says fate is the reason he and Cline survived. Barnett’s wife calls their survival a miracle. Barnett wants to fly again in the future.