HELENA, Alabama -- Four people were injured when a small plane crashed this afternoon in a yard in the 4500 block of South Shades Crest Road.

Authorities say the pilot and passengers -- his wife and two teenagers -- were saved due to the quick actions of a man who pulled them from the burning plane.

Residents of the community where the plane crashed also avoided harm, authorities said, because of the actions of the pilot.

Jefferson and Shelby County sheriff's deputies and Helena police and firefighters are on the scene of the crash, which is near the Jefferson-Shelby county line. EMA and FAA are also on the scene and NTSB is en route.

Helena police Detective Sgt. Chris Rollan said they got the call from 911 just before 2 p.m. and were on the scene about five minutes later. The crash site was about 300 feet off of South Shades Crest, and about a mile from the Bessemer airport.

The plane crashed behind the Dancing Daylily Garden, which operates on two acres of land.

When police and firefighters arrived, there was a large cloud of smoke visible from the crash site.

Lifesaver helicopter was called but Rollan did not know if the injured family was flown from the scene.

Rollan identified the people in the plane as Dan Smith, Andy Smith, Sharon Smith and a 17-year-old female who was not named because of her age. They are all from Tennessee.

The injured people were taken to Children's of Alabama and UAB Hospital. Their conditions were not known but Rollan said all were conscious.

Duane Lovelady and Ralph Watkins were outside working on a lawnmower when they heard a loud noise and saw the plane overhead.

"It just hit the ground and I saw a big ole ball of flame," Lovelady said.

The two men ran to the crash site. Lovelady said the plane hit a tree and crashed behind a home.

The plane was upside down, the front end was gone and flames were nearing the pilot and three passengers.

The pilot said, "Get my wife! Get my wife!," Lovelady said. "I grabbed her by the arms and drug her out."

Next, Lovelady pulled out a girl, who appeared to be in her teens and then the pilot's son.

"I drug her up on the hill and then I got him," Lovelady said.

The pilot made sure he got his wife and the teens out before he got out, Lovelady said. By the time the pilot got out, the plane was engulfed in flames.

Lovelady said the pilot walked around in shock and collapsed. He told them they were on their way From Panama City, Fla. to their home in Tennessee and were trying to stop at the Bessemer airport. Initially authorities thought the plane was low on fuel, but said later it was possible engine trouble that had the pilot trying to make the emergency landing in Bessemer.

"(The pilot) said he shut the motor down to get away from people's houses – and he did that," Lovelady said. "There ain't nothing left of that plane. They are one blessed family."

"To see the plane and see all these people alive, that's more proof there is a God," Watkins said.

Rollan credited Lovelady with helping save the pilot and passengers and the pilot with helping to prevent anyone on the ground from being injured.

"We believe he helped tremendously in saving their lives. They were lucky he was here," Rollan said of Lovelady.

"People are very fortunate. You have to give some credit to the pilot for that," Rollan said.

Kathleen Bergen, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said the plane was a Piper PA-32 aircraft that left Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport in Panama City, Fla., and was bound for Dickson Municipal Airport in Tennessee. The single-engine plane was built in 1978 and registered to Cougar Aviation LLC in Dickson, Tenn.