Two small airplanes carrying skydivers collided in midair over Superior, Wis., just before 6 p.m. Saturday, causing the lead plane to break into pieces, with debris falling across a swath of southern sections of town. Only minor injuries were reported among the 11 people aboard.

The collision and its aftermath were seen by numerous witnesses in the Twin Ports.

"We were just kind of lucky that we were at the point where we were out of the airplane," said Mike Robinson, an instructor who was one of four jumpers on the first plane who all landed without incident. "If we'd been back in the rear of the airplane when they collided it might have been a little bit different."

All nine skydivers aboard the two planes were already jumping or preparing to jump when the collision occurred at 12,000 feet, he said.

The pilot of the lead plane — a Cessna 182 — used an emergency parachute to jump safely, Robinson said, but he was hospitalized for cuts.

The five jumpers aboard the second plane — a Cessna 185 — also jumped while the pilot landed safely at the Superior Airport despite damage to the plane's propellers, Robinson said. All nine jumpers were veteran skydivers, many of them instructors, Robinson said.

Both planes are owned by Skydive Superior.