Henry David Kroeker is back at home and nursing some bruises and cuts after making an unscheduled landing in a muddy field near a southeast neighbourhood.

“Anytime you walk away from an aircraft, it’s a good landing,” laughed Kroeker during a telephone interview with CTV Calgary.

Kroeker was flying to the Indus Airport late Saturday morning when the engine of his Zenair Zodiac, the plane he has been flying recreationally for roughly five years, began to surge. The pilot came to the immediate realization that the plane was going down because it could not hold altitude.

“I had the choice,” recalls Kroeker. “Thankfully, I still had enough momentum to pick an area.”

Kroeker sent a distress call and emergency crews tracked the planes descent as the pilot navigated his way towards the ground.

“I avoided all the houses and flew between a couple of light standards, missed them too, and missed the men on the ground, and took a mudhole instead of trying to land on the highway (Highway 2A/Macleod Trail).”

The recreational pilot, who is in his seventies, believes a landing on Highway 2A would have likely ended with his advanced ultralight colliding with an oncoming vehicle and the loss of several lives.

Kroeker says he was fully aware he would be landing on a less than ideal makeshift runway.

“I knew it was mud,” explained Kroeker. “You always hope for the best but it wasn’t to be.”

When the Zodiac struck the soft ground, it immediately flipped onto its roof. Kroeker exited the plane under his own power and was transported by ambulance to the Foothills Medical Centre for treatment of his relatively minor injuries.

Kroeker was released from hospital several hours later.

“I’m back home safe and sound and my family took great care of me and looked after everything.”

Kroeker credits the experience he’s gained during his nearly eight years of flying, as well as some assistance from a higher power, for helping him through the ordeal.

“God protected me through it all,” said Kroeker. “He kept me alive. The plane can be fixed and I didn’t hurt anyone.”

With files from CTV's Brad MacLeod