Idaho Plane Crash Caught On Tape By Survivors [Video]
The four survivors of an Idaho plane crash have released the incredible video footage shot from inside the cockpit during the accident.
According to Yahoo!, the small plane — a 40’s-era Stinson — took off from Bruce Meadows Airport in Stanley, Idaho at about 2 pm June 30 with four passengers aboard: 70-year-old Leslie Gropp; his 38-year-old son, Tol; and two of Tol’s friends, Nathan Williams, 38, and Alex Arhets, 41.
Tol Gropp said his father, a Vietnam era helicopter pilot and member of the Air National Guard, was at the controls of the aircraft as it made its way into the air. Tol added that his group had just finished a hike in the mountains and were planning on flying to a small mountain town for dinner.
Video footage of the takeoff, which was shot through the cockpit window, shows the runway disappearing beneath the plane and the sun glinting off the glass as the aircraft gained altitude to clear some nearby trees.
The plane only ascended to about 60 or 70 feet, then dipped, hit the trees, and tumbled from the air to the ground.
“Due to warming temperatures we had a hard time gaining altitude. After taking off we hit an air pocket that made us rapidly lose altitude, pushing us down into the trees,” said Gropp. “Within five seconds were were on the ground, upside down, hanging by our seatbelts,”
ABC reported that all four of the men aboard the plane survived the crash but were shaken up and had minor injuries. Les Gropp suffered the worst injuries, with broken ribs and a broken jaw. Today, everyone is ok.
According to WPTV, The Gropps are a religious family and credit their faith with helping them escape death.
“We are a pretty religious family and so are my friends. Some people will mark this off as my imagination… but we feel strongly that due to those blessings that help arrived so quickly in such mass numbers,” Tol Gropp explained.
Watch the Idaho plane crash video below. (Warning: the video does contain injuries which are mildly graphic in nature.)
