Officials in southern Mexico reported a man was killed after an aircraft carrying a team of skydivers from Canada was forced to make an emergency landing on a crowded beach on Sunday. The man was with his wife when he was struck by the aircraft.
According to reports, the man was with his wife, shooting photographs, when the plane went down.
Authorities did not immediately disclose what caused the jet to make the emergency landing, but they did say that it seemed to have touched down safely and was otherwise unharmed.
No details on the Canadian passengers’ identities or hometowns were immediately available. On board was a Mexican pilot.
After exiting the tiny aircraft, the five men were brought to medical facilities for observation. According to the civil defense agency of Oaxaca state, the injured individuals are in “stable” condition, and their ages range from 35 to 60. Officials stated that the victim’s wife had been in the area but was uninjured.
According to footage shared by Puerto Global, the plane’s side is labeled “Skydive Puerto Escondido.” One might see advertisements for jumps from 13,000 feet in the air on the Skydive Puerto Escondido website.
Typical of the wooden beach structures that house restaurants in Puerto Escondido, the disaster occurred near the water’s edge and just yards from one of the buildings.
Witnesses on the beach were seen rescuing a passenger from the plane in footage shared online. The floundering aircraft dropped in a very crowded area of the beach. Any loss of life is tragic, but given the amount of people present, the outcome could have been much worse.
In a social media post, Governor Salomon Jara of Oaxaca State expressed his sadness for the event and stated that aid was being sought for the injured airline passengers.
