Plane Deploys Parachute During Midair Emergency in Australia

Talk about having your camera ready at the right time. Videographer Doug Turner happened to capture footage of a light plane descending to ground via parachute. The footage below is believed to be the only existing video relating to the incident.

 

Designed for light aircraft, the parachute has allowed four people to make a miraculous escape from a plane crash in the Blue Mountains after their aircraft suffered mechanical failure midair.

 

The male pilot of the Cirrus aircraft managed to miss houses and major powerlines before the plane landed in the front yard of a house at Lawson (NSW Australia) at 2.10pm on Saturday, 10 May.

All four people on-board escaped serious injury with only one passenger taken to hospital for minor neck pain. The only reported property damage was to the front fence of one house.

 

NSW Police said the pilot deployed the aircraft’s parachute at 1300 metres “following an emergency incident”. 

 

According to Cirrus’ guide to CAPS, the parachute is activated by the pilot pulling a red handle in the cockpit. Once it is pulled, a cable causes a rocket to ignite which dislodges the CAPS cover, which sits behind the baggage compartment. The parachute is then deployed. Cirrus says that, as of January this year, 85 lives have been saved when pilots or passengers have activated the system.

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