"I was about to die," Bay Area skydiver recounts terrifying midair incident on board same plane that crashed in Hawaii
SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The NTSB reports the very same plane, which crashed in Hawaii killing 11 people, was involved in a frightening mid-air incident here in the Bay Area three years ago. A skydiver onboard the plane at the time recounts the terrifying moments.
Achel Asawa shot a video in July of 2016 over Byron as a dozen of his fellow skydiver's were ready to celebrate a friend's 400th jump.
RELATED: Hawaii plane crash claims 9 men, 2 women, most in their late 20s
But something went wrong. The plane makes a steep turn and starts to spin out of control into a nosedive.
"Because of the G-forces, we were all pinned unable to save ourselves. I remember feeling scared, essentially thinking I was about to die," said Asawa.
The pilot regained control and all skydivers jumped to safety.
But during his decent, Asawa saw a piece of the plane falling through the sky, he caught the image on camera.
The twin-engine plane landed safely, but the aircraft lost a piece of the horizontal stabilizer and the plane's elevator had broken off.
The NTSB blamed pilot error for the midair incident.
Authorities say it's the same plane which crashed Friday in Hawaii killing 11 people.
"It's sad to hear it's the same plane, I'm hoping not because of the same issue," said Asawa.
RELATED: Plane involved in deadly Hawaii crash was damaged in near crash in Contra Costa County 3 years ago
The plane was leased by Bay Area Skydiving in Byron, a new company took over in 2018 but did not acquire the plane.
It's unclear how the aircraft got to Hawaii, but sources say it cleared Federal inspections before leaving California.
The NTSB tweeted on Monday it's looking for photos taken within the last 24 months of the airplane involved in Hawaii skydiving crash. The tail number of the aircraft is N256TA.
