( CNN ) -- Although Shawn Kinmartin flies planes for a sky diving service , he had n't done any sky diving himself . But on Saturday he did n't have a choice . The 21-year-old 's Cessna had been seriously damaged when a sky diver jumped out and hit a key piece of the aircraft , Kinmartin explained on CNN 's `` New Day '' on Monday morning . To have a shot at survival , he 'd have to jump . But before the heart-pumping moment , Kinmartin tried to steady his plane , cruising at 11,500 feet over eastern Missouri and southern Illinois . A fellow pilot flew up in another plane to help assess the damage . The pilot checked out Kinmartin 's plane and signaled to him that the tail was badly bent . Hopes of an emergency landing at an airport in Festus , Missouri , about 35 miles south of St. Louis , were dashed . `` We realized that I would n't be able to perform the landing , '' Kinmartin recalled . Plus , he said , there was a car show at the airport and the runway was too short . The decision to jump made , Kinmartin pointed the aircraft in the direction of Illinois farmland -- the least populated area possible -- and jumped , pulling the cord on the parachute pack he was already wearing . Kinmartin watched his plane crash as he floated 1,500 feet into a soybean field . There were no injuries , according to CNN affiliate KSDK . `` I was nervous , a little scared but at the same time excited , '' he recalled on `` New Day . '' Sure , it was his first sky dive ever , he said , but he had excellent training at Southern Illinois University . Airplane diverts after windshield cracks . Laughing , Kinmartin said he really likes sky diving and wants to do it again -- next time on a tandem jump from a little higher up . Related : Plane hits parachute . Related : Pilot , passengers jump to safety as sky diving planes collide . CNN 's Andy Rose contributed to this report .
CNN : ` ` I was nervous , a little scared , '' ' Shawn Kinmartin recalls on CNN 's ` ` New Day '' NEW : Pilot says he wants to sky - dive again -- next time on a tandem jump . 21-year - old pilot forced to jump from his own plane after a diving damaged plane . Pilot pointed his plane toward farmland , and jumped .