Apr 13, 2000 - 11:17 PM

The Associated Press

WOODSTOCK, Ala. (AP) - Two Illinois men suffered minor injuries Thursday after their single-engine plane crashed in a Bibb County marsh as they returned home from Florida, officials said.

Ronald Diggs of Mounds, Ill., and passenger J. Bon Hartline of Anna, Ill., were taken to Druid City Hospital in Tuscaloosa after their single-engine Pulsar plane crashed about 2:30 p.m. central time, officials said.

The men were conscious when pulled from the wreckage and had suffered cuts and broken bones, said North Bibb Police Chief Michael Bates. They were taken to a local hospital.

Bates said the plane, which originated in Illinois, was flying from Lakeland and probably was returning to Illinois.

Investigators were trying to determine the cause of the crash Thursday, which ended in a knee-deep marsh in Woodstock, about six miles northeast of Vance, Bibb said.

Randy Hutchins, who lives about 100 yards from the crash scene, said he saw the plane go down. He said the plane's impact sounded like thunder.

"They was real lucky," he said. "It circled around and I seen it come around and hit the trees. It ... was trying to crank its motor back up."

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-- Carl Jenkins (Somewherepress@aol.com), April 14, 2000