Skydiver hit by 87-year-old's plane in terrifying crash (video)

A tourist captured the terrifying moment a plane crashed into a skydiver as they were both coming into land.

An 87-year-old pilot was practicing his landings in his single-engine Cessna in Polk County, Florida, and crashed into skydiver John Frost, 49, as he was coming into land in the same area.

The wings of the plane became tangled in the lines of Frost's parachute. The lines were actually cut, sending Frost flying into the air about 75ft above the ground, and sending Trembley into a nosedive.

Both pilot and skydiver miraculously survived the incident with little injury, but Trembley was kept in hospital for observation.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, he suffered a cracked trachea and had five stitches in his chin.

His wife Dorothy said: "He was coming in for a landing and the sky diver came down on the runway.

"The plane can be taken care of. We're feeling great that he's OK. The diver is OK. That's fine with us."

Dorothy added that Trembley, a WWII veteran who has 60 years of flying experience, had feared a head-on collision and tried to steer the plane away, but the side wing still clipped the lines of the parachute.

Tim Telford, who was visiting the area from Ohio, told MyFox Tampa Bay: "I have never seen anything like this and this is the last thing I thought I'd see today.

'You always hear the negatives about somebody died or somebody this, that or the other. Both these guys walked away unscathed. A scratch here, a bruise there and I think both are just happy to be here today."

The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Aviation Administration are investigating the collision.

Related articles

Horror as skydiver knocked unconscious at 12,500ft

Teen survives falling over 3,000ft in skydiving accident