INDIANA — An airplane carrying sightseers and trying to land in foggy conditions crashed near a Western Pennsylvania airport, but the pilot was able to get help for his passengers by flagging down a passing fire truck, officials said.

Foggy conditions limited visibility to a quarter mile and the ceiling was 200 feet when the single-engine Piper Cherokee crashed into a hillside just north of Jimmy Stewart Airport after 6 p.m. Sunday, said Todd Heming, airport manager.

The pilot, Mark Goldinger of Dayton, missed the approach and radioed to say he was going to try to land somewhere else. When radar couldn't locate the plane, airport officials presumed it crashed and called emergency crews to search for the wreckage, Heming said.

Soon after, Goldinger staggered to a road, where he flagged down a fire truck. It took crews about 15 minutes to reach the wreckage on four-wheel-drive vehicles.

"That saved valuable time in getting to the other two patients," Indiana Fire Chief John Colananni said.