When two airplanes carrying skydivers collidedabove Wisconsin on Saturday, many of the jumpers were equipped with video cameras, and some of that film is now turning up online. The nine skydivers all jumped safely, along with one of the pilots; the second pilot was able to safely land his damaged Cessna 185. The other airplane, a Cessna 182, broke up and caught fire. The debris landed mostly on the airport property and nobody on the ground was hurt.The video was acquired exclusively by NBC News, at a cost of at least $100,000, according to the Washington Post, and has been shown on the evening news. The skydivers have also agreed to appear on the Today show and Dateline.
All of the skydivers on the two flights were experienced instructors or coaches, making the last flight of the day. “We were just a few seconds away from having a normal skydive when the trail plane came over the top of the lead aircraft and came down on top of it,” instructor Mike Robinson told local reporters. “It turned into a big flash fireball, and the wing separated. All of us knew we had a crash. The wing over our head was gone, so we just left. … It might’ve been a lot worse. Everybody, to a person, responded just as they should, including the pilots.”
You can watch this NBC News video here, but can’t escape the 30-second ad up front.
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