Video shows terrifying moment skydivers jump as stalled plane plummets
The terrifying video captures the moment a group skydivers in South Africa prepare to jump from a plane, seconds before it stops and goes out of control.
According to ViralHog, the shocking incident took place Oct. 14th in Mosselbay.
According to Bernard Janse van Rensburg, the Beechcraft King Air flew at 16,000 feet when jumpers opened the door and prepared to take off in formation skydive.
“We opened the door and began the climb out. As is the norm, the skydiving team was intensely focused on getting exit timing and correct positioning. This intense focus on task resulted in many of the skydivers missing the tell-tale signs of an imminent stall,” he said.
The footage shows that the plane banks when most jumpers have let go.
Stalls cause disruption to the smooth airflow above their wings, which results in loss of list. Stalls can happen for a variety reasons, including slow flying. Pilots can recover by lowering the nose or adding power.
“This all happened inside of just a few seconds. The others on the outside and the inside of the door were next. With nine of us initially in the sky, there were still five skydivers inside of the aircraft,” van Rensburg wrote.
“The moment was surreal and I could not believe what I was seeing. Everything happened in slow motion and I remember thinking, ‘Am I really seeing the plane spinning nose down next to us?’” he said.
“After the spin, the aircraft started to veer underneath us but luckily did not make contact. As the aircraft started to recover from the stall (still unstable) one further skydiver exited, leaving four skydivers and the pilot in the aircraft,” he added.
“After I was satisfied that the aircraft had recovered (it is a fascinating and unusual thing to see your jump aircraft below you in freefall), I searched the sky for my team and found them building the pre-planned formations in a safe and normal manner,” the videographer said.
The plane made a safe landing, and no one was injured in the incident. This was reported to the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) and the Parachute Association of South Africa.
