A hiker making his way up Devil's Thumb Mountain in Colorado captured a terrifying moment on video when a small plane almost crashed during the July 4 holiday. In a Facebook post, Jason Dunn wrote that he and a friend saw the plane struggling after it came up the valley.
"It was coming straight at us, and as a former licensed pilot, I was worried it would go into an aerodynamic stall. Then it either did, or the pilot made a last ditch effort to turn the plane around in a dead end valley before crashing into the mountain," Dunn wrote.
And his 11-second video shows exactly what he described. The plane careens toward the ground and then at the very last second, pulls up. "As you can see, he made it by less than a couple of feet," Dunn added.
Besides the video and Dunn's observations, there is very little known about what happened inside the cockpit. However, the Federal Aviation Administration published a notice about the incident.
In it, the FAA reported: "A single-engine Cessna 152 landed safely at its destination after it stalled and descended near Devils Thumb, Colorado, around 12:30 p.m. local time on Thursday, July 4." The agency added that the number of people on board the plane was unknown. The incident is currently under investigation.
Reactions to the plane video
Since Dunn published his video, it has gained hundreds of thousands of views and comments. It's also since gone viral as local and national media outlets have shared the terrifying moment. In the comments under the post, many expressed relief that those in the plane survived.
"Oh.My.God. What a crazy experience! So glad you weren't calling in a crash," wrote one person. Another said: "Back to the airport for a new pair of shorts and probably new seats too!!! That was incredibly close. Somebody better be hugging their loved ones a little closer tonight."
While others were left in disbelief and projected what think happened. "That is bananas footage," said one person. "Total craziness. Great calmness (I think) by the pilot to pull that off within feet of a disastrous outcome! If the pilot knew you guys had filmed it I'm sure he'd want a copy."
And others commented on the pilot's ability. "Terrible decision making right there. High DA and rising terrain in a low power aircraft equals not the sharpest knife in the drawer," said one person.
