On Tape: Wing Falls Off Small Plane in Mid-Air

Talk about a wing and a prayer!

Dramatic video shows the moment a wing came off a display plane in Argentina over the weekend.

The pilot deployed a parachute, which enabled the plane to land softly. He walked away unhurt.

A pilot with the Rans Aircraft Air Brigade, Dino Moline, was performing aerobatics, when the wing suddenly broke
off and the plane plunged toward the ground.

Three-thousand spectators thought that it was part of the display when Moline managed to activate the ballistic parachute system fitted to protect the entire aircraft.

The plane fell about 1,500 feet to the west of the public area and caught fire,, according to the website St. Noticias.com.ar.

Three such aircraft had been prepared to put on displays at the event.

On the website, Moline described his shock at the moment the wing fell off, saying it felt like an explosion."

"I don't know what happened to me, I believe that it was metal fatigue and I felt an explosion. I saw a shadow passing to the side of me and it was the wing. So I listened to Cesar (Faristocco) who yelled at me over the radio to deploy the parachute, which I did. I didn't think of anything, I saw fire inside the plane and I despaired a little. My foot got burned, but I'm fine," said Moline on the website.

Rans planes are used almost exclusively for air shows. They're made in the United States and cost roughly $60,000 each.