Only in New Zealand: They survived their plane crash because they had parachutes!

Posted on January 7, 2015 by weehingthong

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NO, THEY DON’T GIVE OUT PARACHUTES ON COMMERCIAL FLIGHTS…

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WHEN 13 IS A LUCKY NUMBER!

8h8 hours ago

13 people safely jumped from this skydiving plane moments before it crashed into Lake Taupo

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6m6 minutes ago

13 people on skydiving plane survive after leaping out in parachutes moments before crash

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All 13 people on board a New Zealand skydiving plane have survived after being forced to don parachutes and jump out moments before it crashed into a lake, police said.

Apparently suffering from engine failure, the plane encountered problems shortly after take-off.
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Roy Clements, the chief executive of plane operator Skydive Taupo, said the passengers were all overseas tourists who had each been assigned an instructor for a tandem dive at planned heights of 12,000 feet for some and 15,000 feet for others.

The plane was at an altitude of about 2,000 feet when it made “a big bang then stopped”, he said. “The pilot told them to get out. He didn’t have to tell them twice.”

“I was happy to see them all walk back into the hangar,” he added.

Skydive Taupo’s website offers skydives from up to 4,500 metres (15,000ft) with up to one minute of freefall. Lake Taupo is popular among holidaymakers and tourists at this time of year, during the southern hemisphere summer.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/new-zealand-skydivers-forced-to-make-emergency-jump-after-plane-plunges-into-lake-9961908.html

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17m17 minutes ago

“: All 13 on N Zealand skydiving plane survive after leaping out moments b4 crash: ” perfectly executed contingency

View this content on The Associated Press's website

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Plane crashes into Lake Taupo

ROBERT STEVEN, LAURA WALTERS, MICHAEL FIELD AND PAUL EASTON

 ·  1h 1 hour ago

13 people safely jumped from this skydiving plane moments before it crashed into Lake Taupo

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SUNK: The plane lying underwater after crashing into Lake Taupo.
The stricken aircraft entered Lake Taupo near where the harbourmaster's boat is located. The water was 3.5m deep, and it sunk.
The stricken aircraft entered Lake Taupo near where the harbourmaster’s boat is located. The water was 3.5m deep, and it sunk
Last updated 14:18, January 7 2015

Remarkably, no one was seriously injured when the bright pink Skydive Taupo light aircraft crashed into the lake about 12.15pm, even with the pilot leaping from one prickly situation to another.

Skydivers were also landing in the lake after 12 skydivers leapt from the bright pink plane, which crashed 200 metres from shore at Rotongaio Bay, on State Highway One south of Taupo.

It sank in 3.5m of water.

Police said the aircraft encountered an “emergency situation” while climbing and as a result all of those on board bailed out.

The 13 on board were the pilot, six crew and six passengers — six tandem skydive pairings.

An eyewitness, who did not want to be named, said she saw parachutes coming down before the plane crashed.

“We saw the plane,” she said.

“We heard it go overhead as it was climbing and then it just went ‘putt’ and conked out.”

After the parachutists got out the plane seemed to spiral down and missed a headland, going into the water just off Waitahanui.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/64724765/plane-crashes-into-lake-taupo

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 ·  2h 2 hours ago

Pic of Lake Taupo plane crash wreckage

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NST

WELLINGTON: All 13 people on a New Zealand skydiving plane that got into trouble today managed to don parachutes and leap out moments before the plane plunged into a lake, police said.

Police spokeswoman Kim Perks said some of those aboard — which included six passengers, six crew members and the pilot — were being checked by medical staff but she didn’t believe any suffered major injuries.

She said the plane, operated by Skydive Taupo, encountered an emergency situation as it was ascending above the eastern side of Lake Taupo.

She said each of the crew members had planned to tandem dive with one of the passengers, and they managed to do just that as they abandoned the aircraft. She said the pilot also leaped to safety in a parachute and was able to swim to the lake’s shore.

http://www.nst.com.my/node/68687

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Mr Eves said the pilot had also landed nearby but in blackberry bushes.

 ·  2h 2 hours ago

Taupo crash: Rowan Eves dived into the water to check wreckage for anyone trapped.

A witness who saw a light plane crash into Lake Taupo this afternoon says it’s remarkable that no one was killed.

Rowan Eves was at his holiday home in Waitahanui, south of Taupo, when he heard the sound of a plane, followed by a loud bang, which rang through the air.

“It sounded like an engine blowing up,” he said.

“It would’ve been no longer than 15 seconds between the bang and when the skydivers started jumping out of the plane.”
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Mr Eves said the pilot was the last to jump out of the plane, at about 1000ft, moments before it nose-dived straight into the lake.

Mr Eves and his family called emergency services before immediately taking his boat out to the site where the plane crashed to see if anyone was trapped in the wreckage.

He dived into the water but couldn’t see much, though he did see the plane which was “pretty mangled”.

After realising that no one appeared to be trapped in the wreckage, he took his boat to pick up the skydivers who landed on shore nearby and took them to the main beach where people and emergency services had gathered.

“One of them was pretty shaken.”

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11383120

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