FAA: 3 Dead After Planes Collide in Colo.

(CBS/AP)  Updated at 8:13 p.m. ET

An airplane towing a glider and another plane collided in Colorado, sending the two planes crashing into the ground and killing at least three people Saturday afternoon, authorities said.

One of the aircraft clipped the towline of a plane that had been pulling a glider, Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Laura Brown said.

(Scroll down to watch video from CBS News Station KCNC-TV in Denver of one of the planes falling after the collision)

The glider disconnected from the plane just before the second plane hit the tow rope, Boulder County sheriff's office spokesman Rick Brough said.

"The two planes did collide, they caught fire midair and fell to the ground," he said.

The glider landed safely - with no injuries to anyone on board - at a nearby airport just after the planes made impact, authorities said.

An amateur video shot at the scene showed a plane on fire, floating to the ground trailing thick, black smoke and a parachute.

Witnesses reported smoldering wreckage in at least three areas on the prairie north of Boulder, which sits at the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

One witness, Christian Sterner, said he saw two big balls of flames, including one attached to a parachute that fell slowly to the ground.

CBS Radio News reports that witnesses heard a booming explosion before seeing fiery plane parts hit the ground.

Aquina Rogers, a worker at a storage facility in the area, told The Associated Press she could see a wing in one of the wreckage fields.

Brough said the parachute was designed to assist one of the aircrafts and was attached to plane wreckage, not a pilot or passenger.

NTSB field investigator Jennifer Rodi said the accident happened three miles northwest of Boulder Municipal Airport at about 1:30 p.m.

"We understand the glider went through a fireball after the impact," she said.

The three dead came from both of the planes that crashed, Brough said. Authorities we're trying to confirm how many people were flying in the planes.

Local Video from CBS4 in Denver

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Local Video from CBS4 in Denver

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[rwsmith29456]

I've never seen a parachute for a plane, except to land jets. It worked really well, but the fire was awful. Were people in that section?? How awful.

[SummarexStrikesBack]

PLEASE MAKE THE COMMENT SECTION ON ALL OF YOUR ARTICLES AVAILABLE TO ALL OF YOUR TRADITIONAL SUBSCRIBERS. I'M NOT GOING TO LOGIN VIA SOME PASSPORT ACCOUNT THAT INTEGRATES ALL MY INFORMATION INTO SOME DATAMINER'S PROFILE. I WANTED TO COMMENT ON THE PALIN ARTICLE BUT I CAN'T BECAUSE I'M NOT GOING TO SHARE ANY FORTHER INFORMATION. tHIS IS NOT THE FIRST TIME THIS HAS HAPPENED ANDYOU IT'S INTERFERING WITH MY FREEDOM OF SPEECH.

[pete_in_az]

We could only wish.

[ToolMangler1]

I agree with you on this. I have complained also, but CBS has ignored me like normal.

[pete_in_az]

Burned to death after a huge impact. Nice way to go. I'll have to add that to my list.

[pensacola8-2009]

An airplane's visibility up in the sky can sometimes be difficult. Pilots often become conditioned by habits and experience and just look for other aircraft that have the colors most frequently seen, making the infrequently seen colors invisible to themselves. I can't say this was the case in this accident, but I love flying at night, where all aircraft exhibit the same color...the color of the recognition lights or strobes....which can be confused with dense city lights, but easy to recognize by a trained set of eyes. On a clear night with unlimited visibility, other aircraft can be spotted 200 miles away or more, but on a clear day with unlimited visibility, seeing a small plane less than 3 miles away can be difficult contrasting against certain colors of ground clutter or sky.

[lilbear925]

Actually, there were five persons killed in this accident. A plane carrying four people hit the tow cable of a plane towing a glider. The glider was able to disconnect and return to the airport safely. The tow plane and the plane with four persons aboard crashed. One of the planes was fitted with a safety parachute, which lowered the plane slowly, but the plane was already in flames before it reached the ground.