Edmonton skydiver dies in first jump

Beiseker, Alta. Witnesses looked on in horror as a skydiver plunged to his death in a parachuting accident Saturday night during his first-ever jump. "We saw the parachute spiralling down and then we hear a loud pop," said a 19-year-old witness, who also had just finished his first jump at the Skydive Ranch, which operates out of the Beiseker airport, about 50 kilometres northeast of Calgary.

"It's something you don't want to see on your first time out."

An air ambulance was called to the scene about 7:40 p.m. but declared the man dead on arrival.

RCMP Constable Wayne Greaves said there was no initial indication of equipment failure.

He also said it wasn't confirmed whether the man actually died from the impact, and that there will be an autopsy.

Jim Mercier, tandem instructor with the Skydive Ranch, said the man hit the ground hard at the end of a jump in which he opened his parachute with no problem.

But during the last part of his dive, he began a "hook turn," said Mr. Mercier, who witnessed the accident while acting as a radio controller on the ground.

"In the last 100 feet, he did a 500-degree turn," Mr. Mercier said. "A hook turn is when you pull down on the toggle and spin vigorously around."

But another witness who asked not to be identified said the man seemed to be spiralling close to a one-storey airport building on the ground.

"It looked like he was going to smoke that building," said the witness, adding that he looked like he was turning to try to avoid a collision.

In July, 1998, first-time skydiver Nadia Kanji, 18, died at Beiseker when she abandoned her main parachute and activated her reserve chute too late.

Last September, Jean-Guy Meilleur, 30, died after he attempted a hook-turn landing at a Calgary Parachute Club event near Drumheller, Alta.

The Skydive Ranch has adopted improved safety regulations since the high-profile death of a Calgary man at the site eight years ago.

Kerry Pringle, a 29-year-old accountant, plunged to his death on his first parachute jump in August, 1993.

A lengthy fatality inquiry into his death assigned no blame to what was then called the Calgary Skydive Centre for the tragedy.

But a series of recommendations were made by a Calgary provincial court judge including leaving a larger margin of safety when setting automatic activation devices on parachutes.