GASTON COUNTY, N.C. -- It took rescue crews more than a half-hour to rescue a man from a small plane that crashed in northwestern Gaston County.

The plane crashed in a wooded area near a house off Tryon Courthouse Road near Cherryville around 3 p.m. Rescuers had to cut away pieces of the plane to get the pilot out.

The pilot has been identified as Jeffrey Lynn, the manager of the Lincolnton Airport.

"How are you feeling," the dispatcher asked. "I'm gonna pass out real soon ma'am," said Lynn.

"I crashed a small airplane, I can't get out of the plane," Lynn told the dispatcher.

A first responder grabbed his phone and spoke with the dispatcher, still on the line.

Lynn was the only person in the plane. He has been taken by ambulance to a helicopter and then flown to Carolinas Medical Center, where he is in critical condition.

"Top rate pilot. Don't know what happened. He just had some kind of difficulty evidently," said friend Mark Mauney.

The cause of the crash is under investigation.

RAW VIDEO: Chopper 9 Shows Rescue Of Pilot From Gaston County Crash