BOULDER, Colo. - Five people were killed when a small aircraft struck the tow cable of another airplane that was pulling a glider over Boulder on Saturday, fire officials and media reports.

Four people who died in the collision were aboard a Cirrus plane that hit the tow line, NBC affiliate KUSA of Denver reported. Another person on the tow plane also was killed.

Video on MSNBC showed an aircraft on fire, floating toward the ground below a large parachute.

Bruce Mygatt of the Boulder, Colo., fire department said the glider was able to detach itself and glide back to the airport. He said the parachute was attached to the Cirrus.

"It's still a very chaotic situation," a Boulder County Sheriff's dispatcher told The Denver Post.

The collision resulted in three separate wreckage sites, authorities said.
Witness Adam Baldochhi told The Denver Post he saw what appeared to be a parachute coming from a glider. The other aircraft, a small plane, went down in flames and smoke, the newspaper reported.