A routine skydiving trip over a tranquil New Zealand lake quickly turned ugly for a group of tourists when the plane's engine conked out shortly after takeoff on Wednesday.

All thirteen people on board, including six tourists, six instructors and the pilot, scrambled to get out and leave the pink Skydive Taupo plane well below their slated 12,000- and 15,000-foot tandem jumps.

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In a statement, Roy Clements, chief executive of Skydive Taupo chief executive Roy Cleme said: "A skydiving plane encountered an engine problem shortly after take-off...All parachutes including the pilot exited the plane and landed safely."

"It sounded like an engine blowing up. It would've been no longer than 15 seconds between the bang and when the skydivers started jumping out of the plane," an eyewitness told local media.

"It was pretty amazing that they could get out, it's amazing that they're safe."

One of the veteran instructors was 29-year-old Joe Dayson, with more than 3,000 jumps under his belt. He also is no stranger to mid-air mishaps, having had a parachute malfunction before in one of his jumps.

His father Grant Dyson told The New Zealand Herald his son "was okay and he's taking it in stride." "Having been trained in these things and having had a 'chute malfunction earlier in his career, they did all the right things. He's pretty competent in the outdoors so I'm not at all surprised he got out of there safe," he added.

Clements said pilot told everyone and "they kicked into their emergency practice, opened their parachutes and landed on the ground. They all reacted extremely well during the emergency situation and I think it's because it was their first skydive so whatever happens is normal. The instructors said people were just absolutely brilliant and did exactly what they needed to do."

The plane dove into the lake surface while the skydivers landed on the lake shore. The pilot, who was the last to get out, sustained minor scratches when he landed in blackberry bushes.

Tagsnew zealand, skydivers, skydive taupo, joe dayson, roy clements