Family of 3 survive plane crash after using parachute system

A California couple and their 2-year-old child survived a plane crash after they deployed a parachute to slow the small aircraft’s downward spiral into a wooded, mountainous area, officials said.

The husband and wife, both 38, and their young daughter escaped with just minor cuts and scratches on Friday after authorities found them at the crash site near the community of Whitehorn in the Golden State.

The 2004 Cirrus SR22 reportedly took off from Shelter Cove Airport en route to Santa Rosa, where the family lives, when the plane’s engine quickly lost power, authorities said.

“The pilot began to troubleshoot why the airplane lost engine power, but had noticed the plane’s altitude was too low for recovery,” a Mendocino County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson said in a news release.

The pilot decided to use the plane’s Cirrus Airframe Parachute System to slow down the plane’s downward trajectory, the sheriff’s office said.

The massive parachute carried the aircraft until it finally crashed into trees in the heavily wooded terrain.

“It sounded like it was a last-resort effort,” Sheriff’s Office Capt. Quincy Cromer told The Press Democrat.

Shelter Cove Fire Chief Nick Pape bluntly told the news outlet, “Chances of survival without the parachute were slim.”

He added the family of three were out of the plane by the time a slew of agencies reached the scene after 1 p.m.

Photos taken by the fire department show the parachute over the plane and then another with the chute caught in the trees with the plane destroyed. 

Shelter Cove officials noted this was the second small aircraft to crash in the area where all the occupants survived in the last nine months.

The plane crashed into the ocean, but two victims were able to get to shore with the help of rescuers, the fire department said.