Skydiver Hits Plane; 4 Die -- Auburn Woman Killed; Parachutist Hospitalized

NORTHAMPTON, Mass. - An Auburn, Wash., woman was among four people killed yesterday when a skydiver hit their plane and sent it crashing to earth.

The parachutist, Alan Peters, who had jumped from another plane, survived after falling onto the tail of the single-engine Piper.

"It damaged it so severely that it went into a tailspin and never pulled out, just struck the ground," said Mary Culver, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration.

Killed in the crash were Christina Park, 18, of Auburn, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology student; Jonas Klein, 18, of Boston, also an MIT student; and Jean Kimball, 45, of Pine Plains, N.Y., according to Trooper William Pinkes of the Massachusetts State Police. The name of the pilot was not released, pending notification of next of kin.

Park, a 1992 graduate of Thomas Jefferson High School in Federal Way, was a sophomore biology major at MIT. She was returning to the university from a trip to New York, a friend said.

The collision occurred at about 7,400 feet. Peters, who was free-falling, deployed his parachute after hitting the plane, authorities said.

There were no radio transmissions from the plane after the collision.

Peters was in stable condition in the intensive-care unit of Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton. His age and hometown were not immediately available.

Culver, the FAA spokeswoman, said he suffered a compound fracture in one leg.

The plane crashed about one mile from Northampton Airport in a wooded area near the Connecticut River, said State Police Sgt. John Healy.