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Arizona Plane Crash: Skydivers Jump For Their Lives As Fiery Plane Crashes Into House In Gilbert [Video]

By Shayla D
Published on: 19:27 PST, Sep 17, 2016

A plane crashed into a home in Gilbert, Arizona, Saturday night and miraculously, everyone survived. Witnesses report seeing a fireball in the sky shortly before the plane crashed into the home.

According to local newspaper The Arizona Republic, the plane was carrying a group of skydivers who were on their way to a Constitution Week celebration at the nearby Gilbert Civic Center. The pilot of the plane, also a skydiver, reportedly radioed in that the plane’s wing was on fire. The passenger skydivers leapt to safety while the pilot suffered burns before also skydiving from the plane. The pilot’s condition is unknown at this time though his injuries are said to be non-life threatening, according to officials.

The owners of the Gilbert house of misfortune were reportedly in their living room watching TV when the plane fell from the sky, crashing through their roof and destroying their house. The Gilbert homeowners were able to flee without injury, but asked to not be contacted by the media at this time.

The small plane, a single engine Cessna 182 according to FAA spokesman Allen Kenitzer, appears to have caused significant damage to the home based on aerial photos shared by local TV affiliate KTVK Channel 3.

Neighbors of the Gilbert homeowners began calling to report a loud explosion. Due to bombings in both New Jersey and New York this evening, they were undoubtedly even more on edge to hear the sound of the crash and see the damage to the home. Sources indicate there were no evacuations, though there was smoke from the plane and house fire as well as the strong odor of fuel.

Gilbert is a smaller city located just southeast of Phoenix. Considered part of the Phoenix metropolitan area, Gilbert was one of the faster growing cities during the housing boom. Formerly a mostly rural farming area, Gilbert experienced a growth spurt forty times its population from 1980 to 2010. In 2010, the city of Gilbert had a little more than 200,000 residents according the the census bureau.

It’s currently unknown which skydiving agency the plane that crashed is associated with, however, one skydiving company just south of Gilbert in Eloy, Arizona, had come under heavy scrutiny at the beginning of the year after three skydivers died in separate accidents from New Year’s Eve 2015 to February 9. While none of those incidents were plane accidents, there will be even more cause for concern if today’s plane originated from that particular company.

According to the Aviation Safety Network, there have been more than thirty plane crashes in 2016 alone involving the Cessna 182 worldwide, resulting in 22 deaths. A man by the name of Kevin Dewey uploaded a video that purportedly shows the Gilbert plane. Though it’s difficult to make out due to the distance, a bright light can be seen falling at a fast rate through the sky.

Another nearby Gilbert resident shared a fast flying fire object on Twitter:

Video obtained by local Phoenix news affiliate 12 News appears to show the skydivers floating through the darkening Arizona sky shortly after they bailed from the fiery plane.

https://www.facebook.com/12news/videos/10154640237509015/

Despite the Gilbert home appearing to be a total loss, given the fact that it appears the plane was on fire prior to the crash and all people aboard and on the ground survived, it appears that Arizona may have witnessed more than a plane crash. They witnessed a bit of a miracle tonight.

[Featured Image by Konwicki Marcin/Shutterstock]

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