Ex-Walmart CEO lands troubled plane on highway

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — A small plane piloted by a former Walmart executive crashed neared Fayetteville a high school in Fayetteville on Tuesday morning.

KFSM-TV in Fort Smith reported that witnesses saw two people emerge from the plane and that one of the passengers was being checked for injuries.

According to The Associated Press, the plane was piloted by Bill Simon, a former CEO of Walmart Stores Inc., which is based in Bentonville.

Bill Simon, who led the company's U.S. operations from 2010 to 2014, told The Associated Press he unfurled a parachute that brought the plane down Tuesday along Arkansas 16 outside Fayetteville High School. Simon said that he suffered a burn as his air bag deployed.

Police say all three men aboard the plane were taken to a hospital, as was a woman whose truck was hit by the falling plane. Police say only minor injuries were reported.

Simon was flying to Waco, Texas, where he teaches at Baylor University. He says he decided to land the plane after its oil system failed, and relied on his training to bring the plane down relatively safely.