Excited holidaymakers who gathered to watch two air tanker seaplanes take off just feet from their barge ended up ducking for cover when one hurtled straight into the mast of the boat.
A spokesman for the harbour office in Vallabregues, south of France, told local media it was a "miracle" no one was killed in the smash on Sunday.
Video shows the enthusiastic tourists cheering on the two Canadair CL-415s as they filled up their tanks from the Rhone River.
The pilots had stopped to top up in preparation to fight a 75-acre forest fire in nearby Collias.
When the first aircraft took off spectators gasped at how close to their boat it passed before gracefully sweeping up into the air.
However, the second pilot's departure was a little less sucessful.
Instead of following the first tanker up into the air the wing of the plane smashed into the barge, severing its mast.
The cameraman appeared to drop their phone in shock at this point but the plane reportedly still managed to takeoff and landed later in Nimes.
According to the Fire Aviation Web site, the aircraft will be repaired and be put back in service.
No comments:
Post a Comment