THOMASVILLE, Pa. -- An 87-year-old man doesn't want to keep his feet on the ground.
Herb Bartell crashed his plane in Adams County after his engine failed in February. He tried to land in a field and ended up in the trees, totaling his plane.
He is ready for takeoff after he crashed in Gettysburg. Bartell has been flying for more than 30 years, and he is not afraid to reach for the sky.
"Even the accident didn't phase me after it happened. I knew I was going to get another plane even after it happened," Bartell said.
He was a man of his word. Bartell bought a 1975 Cessna in May. He flew the plane on the same day he bought it.
"It's the exact same model as my other one was. And the reason I got that was being as old as I am, I didn't want to have to learn something new," he said.
He flies to keep his head in the clouds.
"It's peaceful and relaxation to me. And it's just nice to get up there and look at the world up there where there is no confusion," Bartell said.
One thought he wants to keep his mind off of is his wife. She passed away in October 2014.
"I miss her. And when I get up here I get my mind away from it."
They were together for 63 years.
"We grew up together a half mile from each other. So we went to church together, we joined church together, we went to school together, so we've been together theoretically all our life," he said.
Bartell said she wouldn't want him to give up flying after his accident.
"She'd tell me to go right back up. I know she would because she knows how much I love flying," he said.
And he plans on taking her advice.
"My only saying is when I don't make those good landings and have problems landing, that'll be the time to quit," he said.
Bartell wants to keep flying as long as he can - even if that means he's flying until he's 100 years old.