LONGMONT, Colo. — A pilot involved in a plane crash in Longmont last week has a long road to recovery ahead of him.

On Friday, Jay Davis was flying his newly purchased two-seat airplane when the tail rudder reportedly malfunctioned on landing.

The aircraft flipped upside down, pinning Davis underneath.

“He can’t feel anything from his middle ribs down,” friend Davis Miller said.

Miller said Davis is an avid outdoorsman with a passion for cycling and aviation. It was his dream to own his own airplane.

“On Monday, he came to me and he was like, Davis, I just got my first plane finally,” he said. “Things are awesome. I’m going to try it out this week. And then Friday happened.”

Davis had been testing out the new plane with an inspector. The pair had taken off and landed seven times that afternoon. Miller said the crash happened on the eighth landing.

“It’s kind of the same process as buying a house. You have someone that looks over the plane to make sure it’s mechanically intact,” he said. “So it’s just kind of a freak accident that happened.”

Davis will soon be moved to Craig Hospital to recover from his spinal cord injury. He’ll likely undergo years of physical therapy.

“Insurance can only cover so much. And disability pay can only cover so much,” said another friend, Ryan Seastrom.

Davis’ friends started a GoFundMe account to raise money for the unexpected expenses of hospital bills, lost wages and other costs such as making his home wheelchair accessible.

“The idea behind it is that we will be able to help with some of the financial burden so he can focus solely on getting better,” said Alex Givan, who started the GoFundMe page.

Another person was in the plane when it crashed. According to authorities, that man was not seriously injured.