The crash happened shortly before 10 p.m. north of Bremerton National Airport and west of Gorst.

The Federal Aviation Administration told KIRO 7 Eyewitness News a 911 caller reported hearing a plane with a rough-running engine two miles north of the airport.

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“Our dispatch center received a call from a citizen saying they had heard what they believed to be a plane in distress, and then several minutes after that, they received another call from the pilot confirming that he had crashed,” said Fisher.

Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office and Bremerton Police Department officers searched the area for the pilot. KIRO 7 was told the pilot survived the landing and was talking to police on his cell phone, but was unfamiliar with the area. Fisher said officers used police sirens so the pilot could tell them how close they were to his location.

A search helicopter located the plane and pilot and led rescuers to the location. KIRO 7 reporter Rick Price said searchers packed up and left at about 2 a.m. Wednesday.

According to Fisher, the pilot was injured, but his injuries were not considered life-threatening.

He was the only person in the plane.

Low clouds had prevented Chopper 7 from flying over the area earlier, but the weather cleared by about 6:40 a.m. and a KIRO 7 photographer was able to get a first look at the plane. Chopper video showed the downed aircraft among heavy brush and trees. The fuselage was bent from the impact and a wing was damaged.

The plane could be a Cessna 172.

The National Transportation Safety Board would conduct an investigation into the cause of the crash, said Fisher.