Small plane crashes, and occupants record it from within the plane

A just-released video shows the June crash of a small plane not only from inside the aircraft but also from two different views -- the cockpit and the backseat. Trees seem to explode as the aircraft heads to earth.

The crash occurred in Idaho in June. The video of the incident, taken by its occupants, was nearing 350,000 views on YouTube on Friday morning.

The whole incident is eerily quiet. Slow motion is included, as well as the backseat view. Bloody injuries to the pilot are also carefully recorded on camera.

Tol Gropp, who had camera in hand in the cockpit, was recently featured with the footage on “CBS This Morning.” His father was the pilot of the vintage craft, and two of his friends rode in the backseat. They all escaped serious injury, though the pilot broke his jaw and cheekbone.

From a description posted with the video on YouTube: “This trip was much anticipated and due to our excitement we had our Gopro cameras filming at various times.”

According to this account, the travelers were flying into the mountains for a morning hike in the Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness and were planning to fly on to another site for dinner.

But the plane crashed about four minutes into the flight. It seemed to encounter difficulty at takeoff, having trouble getting lift. The YouTube account chalks the problem up to an “air pocket” that made the craft lose altitude and descend rapidly into the trees.

In the video, the cameras continue to roll after the tumbling stops. Quiet moaning is heard, as well as the pilot asking, “Everybody OK?”

According to CBS, the foursome weren’t going to share their video because it was “too personal” but then decided to share it to show the fragility of life -- and, perhaps, their surprising camerawork as well.

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