Skydivers Turn Rescuers
Wisconsin Skydivers Interrup Jump to Rescue Four Survivors From Plane Crash
Anonymous
Three experienced skydivers preparing to jump near East Troy, Wisconsin, saw a single-engine plane crash into a cornfield around 1:30 p.m. Sunday. After alerting emergency crews, they asked their pilot to drop them near the wreckage and rushed to help the four people aboard. A former paramedic among the skydivers treated a passenger with a serious head injury until responders arrived. All four occupants survived; three were taken to hospital and one was treated at the scene, and all are expected to recover. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash.
Key Points
1
The skydivers were preparing for a jump from about 14,000 feet when they saw the aircraft disappear behind trees; they waited for it to reappear before realizing it had crashed.
2
The crashed aircraft was identified as a 1961 Beechcraft 35-A33 Debonair; aerial footage showed it upright in the field with one wing detached.
3
The jump-plane pilot, Jonah Johnston, told air traffic controllers: “I have a plane crash, just south of East Troy. He’s in a field. I can drop a load of skydivers right over them to potentially help aid.”
4
John Bechtel said the timing made the rescue possible: “Had we left five minutes earlier, we wouldn’t have seen it. If we left 15 minutes later, we wouldn’t have been able to get there to assist.”
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