A deadly mid-air plane crash near Boulder, Colorado involved an airplane towing a glider and another plane that hit the towline.

The crash killed at least three people on Saturday afternoon, some reports are saying five died.

MSNBC has more.

NBC affiliate KUSA of Denver initially reported five deaths, but Boulder County officials confirmed at least three fatalities.

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

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 USA Today reports five deaths and said an amatuer video of the crash was recorded.  

Five people were killed Saturday in a mid-air collision over Boulder where a plane hit a tow line that was pulling a glider.

Amateur video sent to KUSA-TV shows something smoking with a parachute falling to the ground. Witnesses also report seeing fires on the ground in the area.

The video was taken by Hugh Walton of Boulder. His home is about a half mile from the crash site.

"I realized this is a plane with a person in it and I thought, 'Oh, that is not good,' " Walton told 9NEWS. "I was just leaving my neighborhood and I saw some riders, some cyclists, pull over to the side of the road and they were pointing and looking up. So I glanced over my shoulder and I saw some smoke and some flames going on way up in the sky."

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