The crash happened near the Crooked Creek Airport in Bunn.
Witnesses told ABC11 they could hear what sounded like the engine failing before the plane crashed in a nearby yard and spun around.
ABC11 crews described seeing major damage on the front end of the plane.
Neighbors said they rushed to call paramedics to help the elderly pilot.
"I don't know if it was engine failure..it just stuttered. The plane started to descend," said witness Bryan Locklear. "I got to the scene, he was slumped over at the steering wheel I assumed the worst...It's tragic, no doubt, but someone was looking out for him."
Neighbors told ABC11 the pilot runs the nearby airport and flies regularly as a hobby on weekends. The classic plane tows gliders as part of the North Carolina Soaring Association.
Officials have not released the cause of the crash or the pilot's condition.
The crash comes nearly a week after two people were injured in another plane crash in Cumberland County. Officials said the plane took off from Gray's Creek Airport, about two miles from where it crashed into a heavily wooded area, and then caught fire.