A single-engine Cessna headed towards the Vineyard from New Hampshire crash-landed in a cranberry bog near Buzzards Bay on Sunday after the plane experienced engine problems and the pilot attempted an emergency landing. Although the plane was seriously damaged, all four people on board escaped without serious injuries.

The plane crashed into a 76-acre cranberry bog near the center of Rochester at 12:45 p.m. The pilot, Kevin J. Derwin of Ashland, told authorities he experienced engine trouble towards the end of his flight that left from Concord, N.H., and attempted an emergency landing into a bog he spotted from the air.

Both Mr. Derwin and his three passengers, Tina Hass, 33 and Matthias Haas, both of Lawrence, and Naren Nayak, 27, of Hampstead, N.H., escaped with only minor injuries. All four were transported to Tobey Hospital in Wareham by Rochester Fire Department Emergency Medical Technicians, police said.

Rochester Police Chief Paul H. Magee said the pilot hovered over the bog in an attempt to land, before pulling up to avoid a roadway that stretched across a berm in the middle of the bog. The plane finally came to a stop when it reached an embankment.

Chief Magee lauded the pilot for his skillfil landing.

“I think they are very lucky. The pilot made the best out of a bad situation, and did a great job,” he said.

The rented plane, a Cessna model 172N, is owned by New England Flight Operations out of Bedford, N.H.

Holly Baker, a spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), said the crash remains under investigation by the Rochester Police Department, FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board.

Chief Magee said, to his knowledge, all four people on the plane have been released from the hospital.

The plane was largely intact, although the propeller and landing gear were badly damaged. It was lifted from the bog and towed to the offices at the cranberry bog using a local towing company.