Skydive airplane crashes into house in Gilbert Arizona

As first reported by ABC News - A pilot is being treated and four skydivers escaped uninjured after a small plane crashed into a Gilbert home Saturday night.

The crash happened around 7:30 p.m. Saturday night near Ray and Gilbert roads.

An FAA spokesperson says the Cessna 182 plane crashed in the neighborhood during parachute operations.

Gilbert police say the small plane was carrying skydivers for the annual Constitution Fair. 

The pilot is hospitalized with burns after landing half a mile away from where the plane went down, Gilbert fire officials said. Four skydivers ejected from the plane and landed safely.

According to officials, the pilot noticed flames on the wing before the plane went down. An FAA spokesperson said circumstances surrounding the crash are unclear at this time.

Two people inside the Gilbert home were able to get out unhurt after the plane crashed toward the back of the house.

An investigation into the incident is ongoing.

SkyDiverDriver.com

8 skydivers die after plane crash in Finland

One of the deadliest air disasters in Finland's history occurred this past Easter Sunday. A Comp Air 8 kit-built airplane, that was a few minutes away from dropping skydivers over Jamijarvi Finland, suffered "technical problems", according to one of the survivors. As stated to the interviewing police officers after being released from the hospital with minor injuries. 

The Comp Air 8 is an experimental kit-built airplane. It is a very rare, small, single engine, all composite, turbo prop aircraft exported from Florida. It was the only one of its kind operating in Finland.

The pilot and 2 skydivers were able to exit the airplane and survive as it spiraled to the ground. The remaining 8 skydivers could not, for unknown reasons, exit the airplane. They consisted of 2 women and 6 men, all from Finland. This story will be updated as more information is released.

5 dead in skydiving airplane crash near Brisbane Australia

At approximately 11:30 am local eastern Australian time (Saturday morning) a Cessna 206 with skydivers onboard crashed soon after take off from Caboolture Field near Brisbane Australia. Witnesses said that the airplane veered sharply to the left soon after take off, hitting the ground and bursting into flames. All 5 people onboard died in the crash. It is not clear which skydiving company owned the airplane, there is more than one operating at this field.

Update: According to police the victims were 4 males and 1 female. A male pilot, 2 male skydiving instructors and 2 skydiving customers. The names have not been released yet. 

Bryan Carpenter of Aerodynamic Flight Academy told reporters that, "The Cessna 206 lurched sharply to its left at an altitude of 100 to 200 feet." It is not known what caused the crash. However, according to Mr. Carpenter, "...the engine was delivering power on touch down."