BOULDER, Colo. -- The glider pilot who flew to safety through a fireball from the midair collision of two planes over Boulder says it was just seconds between when he saw one plane approaching and when it collided with the plane towing him.

Reuben Bakker and his two passengers sat down with 7News Tuesday to discuss the crash that killed three people Saturday near Boulder Municipal Airport.

The Cirrus SR-20 aircraft that collided with the Piper Pawnee towing Bakker's glider were flying at a 90-degree angle to each other when they crashed, investigators said. Bakker managed to disconnect the glider just before impact.

"I had the release fully back by that point and tried to pitch the aircraft up," said Bakker. "I tried to avoid anything that might have been at eye level and then banked to the right and we went straight through the fireball."

The crash killed the tow plane pilot Alexander Howard Gilmer, 25, of Evergreen; Boulder lawyer and Cirrus pilot Bob Matthews, 58; and his 56-year-old brother, Mark Matthews.

National Transportation Safety Board investigators were piecing together the planes Tuesday and will do a 3-D reconstruction in Greeley, where they took the wreckage.

Brandi Hepburn and her son Javen McDonald were passengers onboard the glider when the collision occurred.

"I was horrified," said Hepburn. "I felt the heat on my forehead as we flew through the flames."

Hepburn said Bakker saved their lives and said he is a hero.

Bakker disagreed.

"I don't see myself as a hero," said Bakker. "I just see myself as doing what had to be done."

Tracey Spence, who manages the Boulder-based flight school Journeys Aviation, heard Bakker's mayday call reporting the collision on a shared radio frequency immediately after the crash.

"He announced 'mayday, mayday, mayday,' and said there was a collision and gave the location and said one of the airplane's parachutes had deployed," Spence told the Boulder Camera newspaper. He said Bakker remained calm throughout the call.

Spence told the Camera he heard no communication from either aircraft over the shared radio frequency while flying in the area Saturday.

Visibility at the time of the crash was about nine miles, Spence said. On a clear day, pilots can see up to 70 miles away.