Shawn Kinmartin had been a pilot for a skydiving company for four years but had never jumped from an airplane.

Until Saturday that is, when a skydiver damaged Kinmartin's Cessna on the way out and the 21-year-old had no choice but to take the plunge.

It was his fourth run of the day, flying at 11,500 feet about 25 miles south of St. Louis.

"Two skydivers jumped out. They were the last two I had on my airplane," Kinmartin said. "And the last skydiver on his way out actually struck the elevator of the aircraft."

The only one left on board, Kinmartin struggled for 10 minutes to regain control of his craft. As St. Louis station KTVI notes, an experienced pilot flew up alongside Kinmartin's damaged plane and radioed to tell him that the craft was unsalvageable. Kinmartin needed to jump if he wanted to live.

Keeping a cool head, the young pilot steered the plane in the direction of some open Illinois farmland before jumping out. He was already wearing a parachute, per a company policy.

“When I jumped out of the airplane, it was 2,000 feet, so I only had 1,500 feet to the ground,” Kinmartin told St. Louis-based outlet KSDK. “And when I jumped out of the airplane, it spiralled and crashed into the field. ... The wind carried me, and I landed in this soybean field.”

Upon inspecting the wreckage, he noted that he probably wouldn’t have survived the crash if he hadn't jumped.

Even though his first skydive was something of a close call, the pilot told CNN he’s looking forward to skydiving again in the near future.