Wealthy couple reveal how they survived terrifying private plane crash with barely a scratch while flying to their beach house with their two dogs

A North Carolina couple managed to survive a terrifying plane crash thanks to a last-minute maneuver to let the aircraft's belly take the brunt of the impact.Dustin Davis, 44, and his wife, Autumn, 41, survived the near-death experience on the evening of October 7. The couple had just been at church before getting into their single-engine Piper PA-32 with their dogs, Sophie and Royce, to take the 40-minute flight from their primary residence in Hickory to their beach house in Ocean Isle Beach.The couple had flown to their $780,000 beachside property many times before, and this time seemed no different, Davis told WRAL. 'It was like any other night,' he said. But partway through the flight, the plane's engine started sputtering. Then, it completely lost power, Davis said. The couple was 6,000 feet in the air when the plane started descending at 1,000 feet per minute. Davis, who was piloting the aircraft, had six minutes to figure out what to do before impact. He contacted air traffic control for assistance, but there was no road or airport nearby. Davis was advised that the nearest airport was eight miles away, but the engine did not have enough power to make it there, and he certainly could not glide the whole distance. North Carolina couple Dustin and Autumn Davis survived a plane crash on October 7. The couple is pictured in the plane with their dogs, Sophie and Royce, who also survived the crash Davis said reflecting on the near-death experience has taught him valuable lessons about what is important The plane landed in a tree that 'held us like a glove,' Davis said. The couple was able to jump out of the plane and suffered only minor injuriesDavis recalled his wife asking what she could do to help. 'Baby, just pray. Just pray,' he replied. It was dark, so Davis could not see the ground, but he decided to turn left as the plane rapidly descended. 'We didn't know if it was going to be a field. We didn't know if it'd be trees. We didn't know if it'd be a couple houses with no lights on, a barn,' he told WRAL. As the aircraft approached the ground, trees soon became visible. Davis did what he could to slow the plane without stalling, getting it down to about 84mph, he said. Just above the canopy, he pulled up to let the plane's belly take most of the impact. 'The rest of it was in God's hands,' Davis said. 'When we went into the trees, we were both thinking this is it,' he said. 'But we hit a tree that was just big enough to keep us from impacting the earth, and just small enough to bend with us as we made impact with the tree, and it just kind of held us like a glove.'Davis said he and his wife initially did not know how far above the ground they were because it was so dark, but they eventually found their phones and used the flashlights to check the distance. The couple had been flying to their $780,000 beach house in Ocean Isle Beach on the night of the crash. They had made the trip many times before The couple was flying in a single-engine Piper PA-32 (pictured). Davis said he has owned the plane for about six years, and it had passed its annual inspection The plane landed about six feet off the ground. Davis only suffered a black eye, and his wife only suffered soreness in her neck and back'Seeing that we were only six feet off the ground, I could not tell you the joy and happiness,' he told WRAL. 'We got our dogs and jumped out of that plane.' The couple miraculously suffered only minor injuries. Davis got a black eye from hitting his head on the dashboard, and Autumn felt soreness in her neck and back. Their dogs also came out unscathed. Davis said that reflecting on the experience over the past two weeks has taught him valuable lessons about what is important. 'What I was not thinking about when we were going down - I was not thinking about bitterness. I was not thinking about someone that's hurt my feelings. I was not thinking about a busy schedule, or a bank account, or anything like that,' he said.'So if it wasn't that big a deal when we were looking death in the face, then it's probably not that big a deal now, and we don't need to get so worked up about certain things,' Davis concluded. Davis said he owned the plane for about six years, and it had passed its annual inspection. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating to determine what caused the engine failure and crash.