A California couple and their 2-year-old child survived a plane crash after they deployed a parachute to slow the small plane’s nosedive into a forested area, authorities said.
The couple, both 38, and their young daughter suffered only minor cuts and scratches after authorities found them Friday at the crash scene near the Golden State community of Whitehorn.
The 2004 Cirrus SR22 took off from Shelter Cove Airport on its way to Santa Rosa, where the family lives, but its engine quickly lost power, authorities said.
“The pilot began troubleshooting what caused the airplane to lose engine power and realized the airplane was at too low an altitude to recover,” a Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson said. said in a news release.
The pilot decided to use the plane’s Cirrus airframe parachute system to slow the plane’s descent trajectory, the sheriff’s office said.
A huge parachute carried the aircraft, which eventually crashed into trees in the wooded terrain.
“It seemed like a last resort,” said Capt. Quincy Cromer of the sheriff’s office. he told the Press Democratic Party.
Shelter Cove Fire Chief Nick Pape told the press frankly: “Without the parachute, there was very little chance of survival.”
He added that the three family members had disembarked from the plane by the time numerous government agencies arrived on the scene just after 1 p.m.
photograph taken to the fire station It shows a parachute being lowered onto a plane, then the parachute gets stuck in a tree and the plane is destroyed.
Shelter Cove officials noted that this is the second small aircraft to crash in the area in the past nine months with all occupants surviving. The plane crashed into the sea, but the two victims were able to reach shore with the help of rescue workers, the fire department said.
