丹佛——周三,两架小型飞机在丹佛附近的半空中相撞,一架飞机几乎被撕成两半,迫使另一架飞机的飞行员打开飞机上的降落伞安全着陆。官员们说,值得注意的是,没有人受伤。
根据国家运输安全委员会和南方地铁消防救援队的说法,两架飞机上午10点左右相撞时,正准备在丹佛郊区的一个小型地区机场降落。
“这些飞行员中的每一个人现在都需要去买一张彩票,”阿拉帕霍县治安官的副手约翰·巴特曼说。“我不记得这样的事情——尤其是每个人都走开了。我的意思是,这是最神奇的部分。”
尽管尾部受到严重损坏,但该飞行员是降落在百年机场的双引擎飞兆都市客机上唯一的人。这架飞机由科罗拉多州一家名为Key Lime Air的公司所有,该公司经营货机。
巴特曼说,另一架飞机上有一名飞行员和一名乘客,这是一架卷云SR22单引擎飞机,它释放了一个红色和白色的降落伞,飘到樱桃溪国家公园住宅附近的一个田野里安全着陆。
他说,目前还不知道谁拥有这架卷云飞机。
国家交通安全委员会在推特上表示,将派工作人员调查这一事件。该公司在一份声明中表示,凯莱姆航空将配合调查。
Two planes collide midair above Denver, no one injured
DENVER -- Two small airplanes collided in midair Wednesday near Denver, leaving one aircraft nearly ripped in half and forcing the pilot of the other to deploy a parachute attached to the plane to land safely. Remarkably, no one was injured, officials said.
Both planes were getting ready to land at a small regional airport in a Denver suburb when they collided mid-morning, according to the National Transportation Safety Board and South Metro Fire Rescue.
“Every one of these pilots needs to go buy a lottery ticket right now,” Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Deputy John Bartmann said. “I don’t remember anything like this — especially everybody walking away. I mean that’s the amazing part of this.”
The pilot was the only person aboard a twin-engine Fairchild Metroliner that landed at Centennial Airport despite suffering major damage to its tail section. The plane is owned by a Colorado-based company called Key Lime Air that operates cargo aircraft.
A pilot and one passenger were on the other plane, a Cirrus SR22 single-engine plane that unleashed a red and white parachute to float to a safe landing in a field near homes in Cherry Creek State Park, Bartmann said.
It was not immediately known who owned the Cirrus plane, he said.
The National Transportation Safety Board said in a tweet it was sending staff to investigate the incident. Key Lime Air will cooperate with the investigation, the company said in a statement.