UPDATE:
DENVER (AP) — The pilot of an airplane that collided with another midair near Denver requested emergency landing for engine failure, not knowing that his plane was nearly ripped in half. According to air traffic control audio, that pilot said his right engine had failed. Authorities say the collision between the twin-engine Fairchild Metroliner and the single-engine Cirrus SR22 happened Wednesday. Key Lime Air says its Metroliner’s tail section was substantially damaged, but that the pilot landed safely at the Centennial Airport. Authorities say a pilot and one passenger were on the other plane that deployed a parachute and drifted safely down to a field. An Arapahoe County sheriff’s deputy said it was “amazing” that no one was injured. Key Lime owns Denver Air Connection, the company that has been given the Essential Air Service contract to provide commercial air transportation to the regional airports in Pierre and Watertown starting July 1, 2021.
ORIGINAL STORY:
DENVER (AP) — Two small airplanes collided in the air near Denver, leaving one aircraft nearly ripped in half and forcing the other’s pilot to deploy a parachute. Remarkably, both planes landed safely and no one was injured, officials said.
Both planes were getting ready to land at a small regional airport in a Denver suburb on Wednesday when they collided, according to the National Transportation Safety Board and South Metro Fire Rescue.
The pilot was the only person aboard a twin-engine Fairchild Metroliner that landed at Centennial Airport despite suffering major damage to its tail section. The plane is owned by a Colorado-based company, Key Lime owns Denver Air Connection, the company that has been given the Essential Air Service contract to provide commercial air transportation to the regional airports in Pierre and Watertown starting July 1, 2021.
“Every one of these pilots needs to go buy a lottery ticket right now,” Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Deputy John Bartmann said. “I don’t remember anything like this — especially everybody walking away. I mean that’s the amazing part of this.”
June Cvelbar told the KUSA TV station that she witnessed the collision while walking in Cherry Creek State Park.
“I saw two planes in the sky. I saw a larger green plane, which I thought was a tow plane, along with what I thought was a glider being towed by it. I heard a noise but didn’t realize that the two planes had collided,′ she told KUSA in an email.
Cvelbar said she saw the green plane fly off and shortly after saw the smaller plane deploy its parachute. She said she initially thought it was a training exercise.
“When I realized that the small plane was going down I ran toward it. The pilot and his passenger were up and about,” Cvelbar said.
A pilot and one passenger were on the other plane, a single-engine Cirrus SR22, which unleashed a red and white parachute and drifted down to a safe landing in a field near homes in Cherry Creek State Park, Bartmann said.
It was not immediately known who owned the Cirrus, he said.
The National Transportation Safety Board tweeted that it was sending staff to investigate. Key Lime Air will cooperate with the investigation, the company said in a statement.
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