ORLANDO, Fla. -- A twin-engine Piper Chieftain plane crash landed miles short of the Orlando International Airport, late Wednesday morning. Despite a fiery crash scene, the pilot was able to escape with only a minor wrist injury.

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According to the Orange County Sheriff's Office, they received a call from 54-year-old pilot John Labella, of Cape Canaveral. The pilot was forced to land the Piper Chieftain in a wooded area about 12 miles from Orlando International Airport.

"There was an engine problem on the right side and the airplane just wouldn't climb and wouldn't maintain level flight," Labella told Eyewitness News.

According to the pilot, he was experiencing mechanical difficulties and was unable to reach a landing strip and landed the plane, intact, near the Lockheed Martin test facility, not far from Lake Mary Jane.

"I just did what I was trained to do," said Labella.

Labella was the only person on the plane and was able to escape before a huge fire broke out shortly thereafter.

"The door opened, I got out... that was it," he said.

The plane was destroyed in the resulting fire and sparked a brush fire.

According to the Orange County Sheriff's Office, units from the Orlando International Airport, Orange County Fire Rescue and the State Forestry Service responded to the scene to extinguish a small brush fire that was confined to remote area in immediate proximity to where the aircraft set down. By late Wednesday afternoon, the fire was reportedly out.

"I just feel lucky. I think God was my co-pilot today," Labella said.

Labella was taken to Orlando Regional Medical Center to treat his injured hand, but was otherwise unharmed. He was treated and released from the hospital early Wednesday evening.