MELBOURNE, Australia — A man was killed Sunday when his parachute caught on the tail of an airplane, sending it into an uncontrollable dive and forcing 10 other people to jump for their lives.
The freak incident happened when members of a parachute club went up in a small plane on a routine outing, officials said. The parachute of the first man to jump opened too soon and was caught on the tail of the plane.
“One of the parachutists, apparently the first one, somehow or other had part of his equipment become caught on the tail of the airplane,” said Bureau of Air Safety Investigation official Barry Sargeant.
“He was unable to be dislodged and it seems like control of the airplane was pretty close to being lost, so everyone else has bailed out including the pilot, and the aircraft has subsequently crashed,” he said.
The pilot was also wearing a parachute and jumped. All of the other people on the plane escaped unharmed.
