13 skydivers jump from burning plane

A group of skydivers were forced to parachute to safety after a plane's engine caught fire just after take off in Colorado.

The engine fire occurred just after the plane took off from Colorado Springs East Airport around 1.45pm on Sunday.

See also: Two skydivers killed when parachute fails to open

See also: Skydiver becomes first man to jump 25000ft from plane with no parachute

Officials believe a bird may have got into the engine, causing the fire.

The 13 passengers that jumped were clients of Into the Blue Skydiving, according to Fox21.

Trent Reese was one of the skydivers on board. He told KRDO: "The pilot took a few seconds to assess the situation and he said 'everybody out.' And we were at a safe altitude for all of us to get out. And we all landed safely."

Some of the skydivers were forced to use their reserve parachutes because they were jumping too close to the ground. They normally jump at around 12,000ft but made this jump at 2,000ft.

It reportedly took a little while to find all the skydivers scattered around the surrounding area, but everybody was ultimately found safe and well.

The plane also returned safely back to the runway after making an emergency landing.