Husband and wife survive Arizona plane crash after using a rocket-powered parachute
A husband and wife have survived after deploying last-minute safety measures during a light plane crash into the side of a mountain.
Authorities in Arizona confirmed the couple were lucky to be alive after the terrifying incident.
Police received reports of a plane crash at around 8.30am local time on Monday, November 3, before scrambling search and rescue services to the area, a Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson said.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Deputies located the crash site near the Cathedral Rock butte outside Sedona, before discovering that the two passengers — a husband and wife — walked away completely unharmed.
Images released by the police department show the plane, a Cirrus SR22, missing a propeller.
Draped over the side was a long cord attached to a large parachute, which authorities say saved their lives.
“They had successfully deployed the ‘Cirrus CAPS System’ — a parachute for the entire aircraft, helping the plane land on the side of the mountain,” Paul Wick, public affairs officer for the sheriff’s office, told PEOPLE.
According to the Cirrus Owners & Pilots Association (COPA), the aircraft’s Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS) is a “revolutionary life-saving feature” that uses a “large ballistic rocket-fired parachute” attached to the aircraft’s frame.
The parachute system slows the plane and helps bring it back to the ground at a slower rate, similar to how a parachute worn by a person would work.
Tests have shown that CAPS takes eight seconds to bring a plane’s forward velocity to zero according to the reports.
The latest incident brings the total to 140 rescues with 282 survivors in aircraft equipped with the CAPS technology, according to COPA.
The group claims that no person has died when CAPS was deployed higher than 1000 feet above the ground with the last fatal incident involving CAPS occurring on September 26, 2024 when two passengers died after another Cirrus SR22 crashed into Utah Lake.
The association says a witness saw a parachute deploy, but it was too low to save the occupants’ lives.
While it is still unknown what exactly prompted this couple to deploy the CAPS system on Monday, COPA noted power loss as a factor.
