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A couple survived a plane crash on a beautiful Arizona trail after deploying a life-saving rocket-powered parachute. The unidentified couple were flying over Cathedral Rock in Sedona around 8:30am on Monday when when they were forced to deploy a Cirrus Airframe Parachute Systems (CAPS). It is unclear what caused the husband and wife, who walked away unharmed, to deploy the system, but it allowed them to safely land on the side of the gorgeous mountains. The plane had taken off from the Sedona Airport off Runway 21 when the pilot deployed CAPS, Cirrus said. Photos of the crashed single-engine, four-seater Cirrus plane show the front propellers missing, but the frame of the aircraft appears to be intact. Off to the side of it, a bright white and orange striped parachute laid deflated amongst the orange rocks. CAPS is deployed after an occupant pulls a handle to release the large ballistic rocket-fired parachute from the airplane at a speed of more than 130 knots, Cirrus said. It allows the plane to stabilize and land at roughly 20 mph, or 17 knots. Tests showed that it takes only a mere eight seconds to reduced forced velocity to zero once deployed. The plane is registered under a business, Argaeus LLC, out of San Diego. It is listed as an aviation company on California Secretary of State filings. The system is only available on Cirrus planes and has so far saved 283 lives, according to the company. The company added that the parachute ups survival chances by 13 times and no person has died if the system is deployed more than 1,000 feet above ground. Over the past two decades, small plane crashes have increased in number. In 2005, CAPS saved 10 lives, according to Cirrus. In 2020, the latest yearly numbers, it saved 90 lives. The couple's frightening event was the 140th time CAPS had saved lives and the 165th known time the system had been deployed. An investigation into the crash is ongoing. The Daily Mail has reached out to the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office for comment. In August, four people were killed when a medical transport plane crashed. The plane, operated by CSI Aviation of Albuquerque, New Mexico, was en route to pick up a patient from a hospital when it crashed and caught fire near Chinle Airport. All four people on board were pronounced dead at the scene.
