Channel 4 crash passenger plane on purpose

Channel 4 has deliberately crashed a plane in the Mexican desert for a documentary on air safety.

Watch amateur footage of the planned plane crash

The 170-seat Boeing 727 jet was abandoned by its pilot, who ejected, and flown by remote control from another plane into the ground.

Inside, the plane was packed with crash test dummies and scientific instruments to measure the effects of the impact on both the aircraft and the human body.

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It's hoped that the results might create an accurate picture of a survivable plane crash to help future air safety.

“This is a ground-breaking project, allowing a team of leading international scientists and crash investigators the first chance for a generation to study the crash of an entire passenger jet to investigate what really happens to the airframe and cabin of a crashing plane,” said Channel 4's senior commissioning editor David Glover.

The feature-length documentary will hit screens later this year.