A couple walked away unharmed after their small plane crashed in Arizona on Monday, authorities have confirmed.

According to a statement shared with PEOPLE from the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office, the department received reports of a plane crash around 8:30 a.m. local time on Monday, Nov. 3. Deputies quickly responded to the scene near the Cathedral Rock butte located outside Sedona, Ariz.

After authorities confirmed the crash, deputies learned that the two passengers — a husband and wife — went completely unharmed and walked away on their own from the scene of the crash.

Photos shared with PEOPLE by authorities appear to show the plane, a Cirrus SR22, where it crashed and landed into a desert bush. The front of the plane appears to be missing a propeller. Draped over the side was a long cord attached to a large parachute, which authorities say saved their lives.

“They had successfully deployed the ‘Cirrus CAPS System’ — a parachute for the entire aircraft, helping the plane land on the side of the mountain,” Paul Wick, public affairs officer for the sheriff’s office, tells PEOPLE.

According to the Cirrus Owners & Pilots Association (COPA), the aircraft’s Cirrus Airframe Parachute System (CAPS) is a “revolutionary life-saving feature” that uses a “large ballistic rocket-fired parachute” attached to the aircraft’s frame. When deployed, it can quickly slow the plane and help bring it back to the ground, similar to how.a parachute worn by an individual functions. Tests have shown that CAPS only takes 8 seconds to bring a plane’s forward velocity to zero, per the association.

As of Nov. 3, there have been 140 rescues with 282 survivors in aircrafts equipped with the CAPS technology, according to COPA. The group claims that no person has died when CAPS was deployed higher than 1,000 feet above the ground.

The last fatal incident involving CAPS occurred on Sept. 26, 2024. According to COPA, two passengers died after another Cirrus SR22 made impact with Utah Lake just outside the Provo Airport in Utah. The association says a witness saw a parachute deploy, but it was too low to save the occupants’ lives.

While it is still unknown what exactly prompted this couple to deploy the CAPS system on Monday, COPA noted power loss as a factor. Data from FlightAware estimates the plane departed Sedona Airport for Chandler, Ariz., just before 8:30 a.m on Monday.

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The Federal Aviation Administration’s aircraft registry shows the plane is owned by Argaeus LLC, a company based in Poway, Calif. Its manufacturing date goes back to 2006.

A representative from Cirrus did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.