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Tom Williams, owner of Williams Aerial Spraying Service in Oregon, Mo., has been crop-dusting for more than a decade.

Despite a crop-duster’s failed takeoff Monday in Bethany, Mo., area pilots say plane crashes are rare in their business.

The Harrison County Sheriff’s Department reported a plane crash at Bethany Memorial Airport at 7:59 p.m. Monday. The plane, identified as a crop-duster that was carrying 450 gallons of nitrogen, struck a residence near the airport as it attempted to take off and then landed upside down, said Sgt. Sheldon Lyon of the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

“He was en route to spray a field and then he was going to return to the airport,” he said.

Pilot Steven Whary of Oden, Texas, refused medical treatment for minor injuries at the scene, but the resident at the crash site, Francis Zimmerman, was taken to Harrison County Community Hospital for chest pain. Mr. Zimmerman remained in the hospital overnight under observation and was released Tuesday morning, according to a spokeswoman for the hospital.

Elizabeth Isham Cory, spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said the crash is under an investigation that will take several weeks to complete.

Though crop-dusting is prevalent in agricultural areas, Ms. Cory said crashes are rare. She said the FAA continually reminds pilots to practice safe procedures.

“Safety is our No. 1 concern and so we want to make sure that everybody who flies is safe,” she said.

Garold Kurtz, owner of Kurtz Rural Aviation in Mound City, Mo., said he thinks crop-dusting has become one of the safest forms of aviation in the last 10 years, despite the perception that the pilots are untrained or operate on luck alone. Though accidents do happen, they are rare per hours flown. “We’re flying around on skill and knowledge, not luck,” Mr. Kurtz said.

Before takeoff, Mr. Kurtz said pilots will scour the flight area for obstructions, check the wind and weather and find a safe place for landing.

Mr. Kurtz’s wife, Rene, said technology has come a long way and that many planes now have GPS capabilities. She said pilots are thinking miles ahead instead of feet ahead, and are not keen on taking risks.

“(Garold) very much calculates exactly what he does,” she said.

Tom Williams, owner of Williams Aerial Spraying Service in Oregon, Mo., said pilots have obtained a commercial license and usually worked with another operator or attended classes before flying the jet engine planes used for crop-dusting. In his 12 years of flying 10 feet above crops at about 130 mph, Mr. Williams has had to land his plane three times because of engine failure, but has never had a crash.

“It’s not as dangerous as it appears at first glance,” he said. “Experience is a big thing.”

Mr. Williams said crop-dusting has grown exponentially in the past few years because fungicides can increase the yield of crops like corn and soybeans.

“We’re seeing more and more of it in agriculture right now,” he said.