Seven Fatally Injured Of 38 On Board The Two Aircraft

There were 38 people on board two aircraft rehearsing for an upcoming airshow in western Slovakia then the two airplanes collided in mid air at about 5,000 feet.

Seven of those on board were fatally injured as a result of the accident, but 31, all skydivers, survived by bailing out of the airplanes.

According the the U.K. newspaper The Independent, some of those had jumped before the impact. The rest exited the aircraft as they fell to the ground. Five were treated on the scene for minor injuries, according to the report, but none of the survivors required hospitalization.

Both aircraft involved were L-410s, according to the Slovak television news channel TV Markiza.

The planes came down in an area described as "hilly" near the village of Cerveny Kamen near the Czech border. Three rescue helicopters were dispatched to the accident scene.

A Slovakian rescue services spokesperson confirmed that all of those on board had been civilian skydivers rehearsing for an airshow to be held this coming weekend.

(Public domain image via Wikipedia. Not accident aircraft)

FMI: www.caa.sk/index-e.htm