Skydiver falls to death in DeLand
DELAND -- A skydiver plummeted to her death Wednesday evening near U.S. 92, and investigators worked well into the night trying to determine exactly what happened during the final moments of her fall.
Chantal Bonitto, 31, of New York City, was pronounced dead at the scene, an EVAC spokesman said.
Her body was discovered shortly after 5:30 p.m. in a wooded area along U.S. 92, directly behind the Flo Met office building at 810 Flight Line Blvd.
Bonitto was vacationing in the area and was taking part in jumps offered by Skydive DeLand, according to the DeLand Police Department.
She was no stranger to skydiving, having completed at least 100 jumps, said DeLand Police Lt. Paul Proctor.
"It's still too early to tell what happened," Proctor said Wednesday night. "At 100 jumps, it would seem to be they know what they're doing to a certain degree."
Proctor said people who witnessed Bonitto's fall offered conflicting stories as to whether the woman's parachute opened.
"That's where some of the stories differ," he said.
Some eyewitnesses reported they did not see a parachute open. Others, Proctor said, reported seeing Bonitto perform a "cut-away," detaching herself from the primary parachute in an effort to deploy a back-up canopy.
Proctor said local investigators, along with the Federal Aviation Administration, will investigate the incident.
He said more witnesses would be interviewed, including the pilot of the plane from which Bonitto jumped.
Bonitto was married, and her husband was at the scene Wednesday night. His name was not immediately available.
Proctor said he did not know if Bonitto's husband was a skydiver.
Skydiving injuries and fatal accidents occur sporadically in DeLand, Proctor said, due in part to the sheer volume of participants.
Skydive DeLand officials have previously said they average nearly 85,000 jumps per year.
"There are just a huge number of skydivers in the area," Proctor said.
Two skydivers were reported injured in April, one of them critically.
In April 1999, a French skydiver died after her parachute malfunctioned and failed to open properly. The 55-year-old woman was an experienced skydiver with more than 500 jumps.
2000 News-Journal Corp.
Skydiver drops lead weights
Bystanders at Rotorua Airport were sprayed with lead shot after a pair of 2.5kg skydiver's weights plummeted 762m, hitting the ground with such force that witness thought they were exploding bombs.
The weights, made from black fabric bags filled with lead, are used as ballast to keep a falling skydiver stable.
But during a routine jump on Sunday afternoon, skydiver Gregg Eagles left his weights tucked into the pouch that held his parachute secure in its backpack.
When he released the ripcord, they fell to the ground, landing near the airport entrance with such force that police were called to investigate reports of homemade explosives being detonated.
Police thought they might have been dealing with explosives left by a bomber and detonated when a car drove over them.
They began an investigation to see if similar incidents had happened at other airports.
Reports of the "bombs" were sent out on the news wires.
One woman was slightly injured when she was peppered with lead pellets, but Detective Sergeant Mark Loper said someone could have been killed if the bags had scored a direct hit.
Mr Eagles, a veteran of more than 500 jumps, had no idea he had lost the weights until he got a phone call yesterday morning.
He said he did not see the weights because they "blended in" and he usually used larger ones made from 4-litre oil cans.
"I really don't know how it happened ... I won't be using those weights again.
"When I found out I thought, 'Oh no, what have I killed?' Somebody could have been really badly hurt," said Mr Eagles.
Dr Chris Tindle, a physicist at Auckland University, said it was difficult to know the speed and force the weights would have reached when they hit the ground. But they were probably falling at terminal velocity.
They would have had enough force to easily cave in a car roof and anyone hit would certainly have been killed.
"It would put a great big dent in almost anything it hit."
The Civil Aviation Authority is investigating.
Skydiver dies after hitting propeller of another plane
SAN MARCOS, Texas (AP) - A parachutist was killed instantly when she struck a plane's propeller while practicing a skydiving formation with 29 other jumpers. Michele Thibaudeau, 36, and eight other parachutists were in one airplane Sunday and the other 21 jumpers were on a second aircraft.
After jumping, Thibaudeau hit the propeller of the other aircraft and was killed on impact, Federal Aviation Administration spokesman John Clabes said.
Thibaudeau's boyfriend, who was last in line to jump from the plane, followed her body 14,000 feet to its impact in Fentress, according to Sky Dive San Marcos owner Phillip Chappell.
The National Transportation Safety Board was investigating.
"I've never heard of anything like that before," Clabes said. "You hear about fatalities when people jump out of planes and their chutes don't open, but not this."
Thibaudeau, of Cartersville, Ga., had completed more than 850 jumps.
All the parachutists had completed a minimum of 400 jumps, double the number the U.S. Parachute Association uses to determine expert status, Chappell said.
Skydiver died from mid-air collision
An experienced skydiver died when he fractured his skull in a mid-air collision with one of his best friends, an inquest heard on Tuesday. Robert Monk, 39, from Bedminster in Bristol, was on holiday with two friends at a Spanish parachuting centre when the accident happened on 28 July.
Mr Monk's friend, Elliot Borthwick, also 39 and from Bristol, told the inquest at Bristol coroner's court that the three had skydived together many times and were planning to jump in a "sit-up" formation, with their legs linked as they were free-falling.
At the last moment before jumping out of the plane, they decided to open their parachutes earlier than usual, but Mr Monk apparently forgot about the change of plan.
When the other two opened their parachutes, Mr Monk remained in free-fall at a speed of 130mph and crashed into his friend John Carew's leg, fracturing his skull.
"We were smiling and laughing and having fun," Mr Borthwick recalled. "When we separated I flipped over and opened my chute. I looked under me and saw Rob and John [Carew] still linked together." He saw Mr Carew jettison his parachute and use his reserve parachute, but he could not see Mr Monk.
"Because we were so far from the drop zone, when it came to break away at 6,000ft, I think Rob reverted to our old thing of coming back together after we had broken off," said Mr Borthwick.
He thought that Mr Carew was unaware that his friend had flown back towards him, and as he opened his parachute his leg collided with Mr Monk's head.
Rescuers found Mr Monk's body near Castello de Cempurias, about 30 miles from Gerona in north-east Spain.
Two hours after the accident Mr Carew, 35, from Birmingham, was found unconscious in a field of maize. He awoke in hospital to find surgeons had had to amputate part of his leg.
Mr Carew spent a week in a Spanish hospital before returning to Birmingham.
The fatal jump was the group's final one on their holiday in Emporia Brava, one of Europe's biggest skydiving locations.
The Avon and District coroner, Paul Forrest, recorded a verdict of accidental death. "There was a mid-air collision which resulted in the deceased free-falling to his death. He received a fracture of the cranium, as was certified in Spain," he ruled.
Skydiver cheats death after jump goes wrong
A SKYDIVER was critically ill in hospital last night after falling more than 3,000 feet when his parachute failed to open properly. Craig Paton, 26, hit the ground at more than 40mph when his first ever skydive went tragically wrong.
After his main parachute malfunctioned, he fell to the ground in just 60 seconds, when a normal descent from 3,200ft should take four minutes.
Mr Paton landed on a lush grass embankment which cushioned his fall, missing a concrete road and certain death by only a few feet.
Although he suffered not a single broken bone, he remained in a drug-induced coma in intensive care at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary last night with internal bleeding in his chest.
Mr Paton's mother, Marion, and sister, Dawn, 21, were at his bedside last night where his condition was described as "serious but stable".
Speaking from his Kilmarnock home, his father, John, said last night: "Quite honestly he shouldn't really be here."
Mr Paton, who is single, joined work colleagues for the charity jump on Saturday when another man pulled out. After a day of training at Strathallan Airfield, near Auchterarder, he leapt from a Cessna light aircraft in a static line jump, a technique used for beginners.
Two people had already jumped out of the aircraft without problems as it circled over the Perthshire airfield.
But when he jumped out a few seconds later, the jumpmaster noticed immediately that there was a serious problem.
The parachute malfunction meant Mr Paton began falling so fast he overtook his friends, who were enjoying a controlled descent.
As he came within a few hundred feet of the ground, the stricken jumper tried to release the back-up parachute which would save his life. But it became entangled in the first parachute and the man was still travelling at 40 miles per hour when he ploughed into the ground.
The plane, flown by Skydive Strathallan owner Kieran Brady, immediately headed back to the runway to summon help.
Despite the massive impact, Mr Paton was conscious when rescuers reached him. Suffeirng severe chest injuries, he was rushed to Ninewells Hospital in Dundee by the specialist trauma team. He was later transferred to Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.
Mr Paton's father, John, 52, who runs a newsagent and dairy business with his only son, told The Scotsman: "He only went up because someone had dropped out and he said he would go and do it for the fun. It was the first time he had ever done a jump."
He added: "The police have told us that he landed on the banking of a road which sits higher than a grass area and then slid or rolled down the banking.
"If he had hit the road he would not be here.
"They are keeping him doped up to make sure he does not move about too much while they try and find out what is causing the bleeding in his chest.
"Craig does weights and runs a lot and the doctors said that is one of the factors which has saved him."
Tayside Police and the British Parachute Association confirmed yesterday they are investigating the cause of the accident.
A police spokesman said: "We were called to Strathallan Airfield at 7.30pm because of an accident involving a parachutist.
"Inquiries are still ongoing into the incident, but it sounds asif he was pretty lucky to survive the fall."
Mr Brady, of Skydive Strathallan, said the parachute which malfunctioned had been used safely on numerous previous occasions. He added that such problems are "very rare".
Skydiver cheats death after chute malfunctions
Years from now, when Tonguc Yaman recounts his adventure to his children, it may go something like this:
Drove the Harley to Sussex Airport. Strapped on the parachute. Jumped out of a Cessna. Went home. Slept.
Forgive him if he fails to mention the part about the chute collapsing in a freak wind, the freefall to the ground, and the helicopter ride to the trauma center. Because for Yaman, the thrill of sky diving and the memories of 99 previous leaps from airplanes far outweigh his brush with disaster Saturday.
"I want to do it again," a slightly beat-up Yaman, 34, said from his home in Tenafly on Sunday. "Whenever my leg stops aching."
It's an attitude that his trainer, Bud Mazeiko of Skydive Sussex, explained like this: "Just because you have a car accident doesn't mean you're never going to drive again."
It's hard to believe that less than a day earlier, Yaman fell the final 30 of 10,000 feet near Sussex County Airport -- and that mere hours after he was admitted as a top-priority patient to Morristown Memorial Hospital, he headed home with little to show but some heavy-duty bruises.
The bruises will fade, for sure, but the tale will last a lifetime.
A veteran jumper for four years -- since his wife, Ute, gave him lessons as a birthday gift -- Yaman, a finance specialist, wanted to mark his 100th jump in style. On Saturday morning, he hopped on his Harley and headed to Sussex with plans to meet up with his wife and two children to celebrate afterward with a barbecue feast at a friend's house.
The 100th leap was to be his second of the day, and it started like any other. In the Cessna, Yaman and three other divers reached 10,000 feet and jumped, each with a plan to join hands, then break apart and activate their chutes.
"I approached them slowly and connected with them," Yaman recalled. "It was beautiful. I was thinking, 'Yeah! This is nice -- my 100th jump!' "
At 5,000 feet, the divers broke off as planned. Yaman dropped another 2,000 feet, getting ready to ride upwind, crosswind, and downwind to a safe landing. He pulled the cord to activate the chute.
Then came what Yaman called "a crazy wind," a freak draft from the side that struck his parachute.
"It just folded and closed. I tried to open it, tried to make it full again."
One side of the parachute ballooned, but the other remained limp. Thirty feet from the landing zone, the chute waved above him like a handkerchief, and it was far too late to deploy the backup.
As he zoomed toward earth, did he think about death?
"I wasn't thinking about emotions," Yaman said. "There is no time for those things. It is a second or a split-second, and you better get a parachute over your head."
He smacked into the landing zone, a grassy target made soft by recent rains.
"I wasn't dead, but I knew I was hurt," he recalled. "The ambulance guys came. They tried to close my mouth but I told them, 'I want to have fresh air.' "
When he next saw his wife, it was in the trauma center at Morristown, after a Medevac flight. An MRI and X-rays showed no internal injuries, and Yaman insisted on going home.
For the pain, he took exactly one aspirin.
Yaman credited his survival with hours of training with Mazeiko and the staff at Skydive Sussex, who taught him to head for a grass landing zone, and who never fly over buildings, cars, or asphalt.
All of which will be on his mind for the 101st leap.
Skydiver Called A Hero
ELLINGTON -- As she hurtled toward the ground, the skydiver couldn't open her parachute. Her instructor, Robert J. Bonadies, dove toward her and pulled her cord. But some say it was too late for him to help himself.
Bonadies died Monday in the skydiving accident. The student and another instructor who jumped at the same time were not injured.
"Most people would say he was a hero," Don Semon, a safety and training adviser for the United States Parachute Association, said Tuesday.
Bonadies' death was ruled an accident Tuesday after an autopsy at the chief medical examiner's office. State police and the Federal Aviation Administration are investigating.
Family members and friends gathered at Bonadies home Tuesday, sharing memories and calling him a hero.
"His smile was contagious," said friend Bill Beaudreau. "He just made you feel good just being around him. I could just see him right to the end, putting his life aside to make sure this person lived, and that's what he did."
An electrician, Bonadies, 47, was also a father and grandfather. He had what one relative called "an infectious smile."
When it came to skydiving, he was as experienced as they come. He was president of Connecticut Parachutists Inc., a club based at Ellington Airport - about 6 miles from his Vernon house. He had been skydiving for more than 20 years. He completed 2,040 free-fall jumps - 254 in the past 10 months.
He also was a long-distance runner. He ran up Mount Washington and trained participants for charity events.
"He was a pretty active guy," said his brother-in-law, Mark Miller. "He loved his family. He loved his work. He loved to skydive."
That much is evident in a photograph of Bonadies skydiving. In it, he is smiling as he sails through the bright blue sky with a student harnessed beneath him.
Bonadies' relatives and friends at Connecticut Parachutists said he saved the student's life Monday.
Semon, who also is a member of the club, said Bonadies and another instructor were on either side of the student when they jumped at 12,000 feet from a Cessna 182.
When he saw that the student couldn't pull the handle to open her parachute, he did it for her, Semon said.
Mark Miller said Bonadies dove through the air to catch up with her.
"He maneuvered himself under her. He pulled her cord so her chute opened. He pulled his reserve chute. But he was too close to the ground," Miller said.
Semon, however, said Bonadies never got a chance to attempt to open either his main or reserve parachute. The police said when they found him, the reserve chute was open, but both police and Semon said it could have been forced out by the impact.
Meanwhile, television station WTIC reported Tuesday that Bonadies was not wearing a device that would have automatically opened his chute at about 1,000 feet. Although many skydivers choose to wear the so-called automatic activation device, Bonadies did not, WTIC reported.
All novice skydivers who are jumping with the Connecticut Parachutists group are required to wear the devices.
From the USPA Safety & Training Newsletter Vol. 2, Issue 6
Instructor Responsibilities
Recently during a Category C student skydive, an AFF Instructor was killed after the formation funneled at the student's pull altitude. The two instructors and their student tumbled, and eventually one of the instructors released and deployed his main parachute at a low altitude. The other instructor continued tumbling with the student and deployed the student's main parachute just as the AAD deployed the reserve. The instructor reached the ground before he could deploy his own parachute. The student landed her bi-planed main and reserve without further incident. In situations such as this, altitude awareness is critical. Things happen very fast due to the increase in fall rate while tumbling, which only serves to add to the problems the instructor is already dealing with while trying to get the student deployed.
With this tragedy, Instructors are reminded of the protocol that has been established regarding students and pull altitudes. The AFF Syllabus of the Instructional Rating Manual lists the following guidelines regarding deployment problems:
5. General:
a. The instructors must assure student main deployment by 3,500 feet to allow both instructors time to get clear and open by 2,000 feet.
b. No instructor should ever get above a student. Note: AADs often activate higher than the preset altitude.
c. The instructor(s) must ensure reserve deployment by 2,500 feet to get clear and open by 2,000 feet.
d. Under no circumstances should an instructor attempt to catch a student or remain with a student below the instructor's minimum deployment (2,000 feet).
e. The instructors must take care that one does not deploy the student's main while the other deploys the reserve.
(1) Only if the main deployment handle is inaccessible should the reserve-side instructor deploy the student's reserve parachute.
(2) Many systems have reserve-side instructor deployment handles to make deploying the main parachute easier for the reserve-side instructor.
USPA strongly encourages all skydivers, especially instructors, to use an AAD, which may have changed the outcome of this event. An audible altimeter can also serve to provide an additional altitude warning for instructors while working with students. Solo students, and instructors and students who are using tandem equipment must wear an AAD.
Skydiver breaks leg
A skydiver was in Perth Royal Infirmary last night after badly breaking a leg while at Strathallan airfield in Perthshire.
It is believed the man, who has not yet been named, landed awkwardly at the end of an otherwise uneventful 2,000ft dive.
The latest accident comes less than a month after Craig Paton fell hundreds of feet when his jump went wrong. He suffered serious internal injuries.
Mr Paton, from Kilmarnock, was badly hurt because the canopy of his parachute failed to open and he hit the ground at over 40 miles per hour.
He has since been discharged from hospital.
Skydive Ultra 2014 - What is your next adventure
"No matter how bad you think it is, never give up, because guess what, it may not be as bad as you thought it was."
Jeb Corliss shared this lesson he learned with Conan following his—seemingly un-survivable—crash on Table Mountain. It wasn’t his first crash, and it may not be his last, but he’s been quite open about what brought him to skydiving in the first place. He uses his jumps to chase his personal demons away, pushing himself farther, faster, and closer to the edge, and as long as the sport doesn’t kill him, it appears to be working.
Ultra-Runners have more in common with Jeb that you may think. Many of them are also chasing demons, using the tremendous personal challenge of running 50 or 100 miles, or even more, to explore their boundaries—to get closer to the edge—because coming back from the edge makes life’s hardships seem trivial… for a while, then it is time for a new challenge.
Eric Friedman, a skydiver, an ultra-runner, and maybe just a little challenge starved, enjoyed running with a friend around their drop zone before a day of jumping. It was a regular habit and neither thought much more about it until, one day, while jogging on the beach in Hollywood, his combination of habits, and hunger for a new challenge gave Eric a crazy idea, “What if we combine skydiving with ultra-running? That would be awesome!”
Like taking chocolate and peanut butter, smashing them into a ball, and launching that ball into space… and then making the ball run 50 miles, the first Skydive Ultra was born. Loosely organized, and with limited promotion, the first event attracted the nuttiest of the demon chasers who, based on the pictures, seem thrilled to be falling two miles before running 50.
That was last year, and it was a small but memorable success. This year is going to be bigger, better, and even nuttier. 50 miles? Nah, make it an even 100. This will be for top honors but everybody likes to skydive and run right? So, this year, in addition to the 100 miler, there will be a 50 mile, a 50 kilometer, and some ‘short’ races like, you know, a marathon. There will even be a half-marathon and a 10k for you regular skydivers that just want in on the action.
Skydive Ultra 2014 is February 1-2 (Yep, two days, have you ever run a 100 miles?) The drop zone is located in Clewiston, Florida but participants are coming from all over the world. If you aren’t already a skydiver maybe you thought that was your excuse, nope, first time jumpers are the biggest part of the fun! Tandem jumps will be offered but licensed jumpers are, of course, required to encouraged to participate.
Bring your not-so-nutty friends and family, there will be plenty of fun to be had. There will be a tire-pull competition as well as horseshoes, Frisbee, volleyball, and more. Visit Skydive Ultra on Facebook, Google+, and YouTube to keep up with the event news and stop by the website for all the details.
Maybe we aren’t all chasing demons, maybe we’re chasing dreams, or maybe we’re just chasing the guy in front of us, but no matter what you’re chasing, “…never give up…”
Skydive Tuskegee Hosting Fundraiser for Wounded Warrior
Tuskegee, AL – On a vehicle patrol in the Korengal Valley, Afghanistan, on December 27th, 2007, SPC Jesse Murphree was ambushed in an IED attack. He was part of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team stationed out of Vicenza, Italy; made famous by the movies “Restrepo” and “Korengal” by Sebastian Junger. The IED attack resulted in 60 surgeries and counting, 6 ‘deaths’ on the operating table, and the amputation of both legs above the knee; among other injuries. Jesse has had a long and ongoing recovery. Every day is progress in his recovery.
Now, what better way to help an American Hero feel free, and serve as hope to others who still want to live their life to the fullest? For Jesse, it is SKYDIVING! As a paratrooper who has made several static line jumps with the army, Jesse wants to return to the sky and in a big way. Showing nothing can hold him back and hoping to inspire others to achieve their goals.
The plan is simple: Operation Enduring Warrior – Skydive is teaming up with AXIS Flight School and Skydive Arizona to get him the proper special training that he needs. The problem is paying for the costs of his traveling and gear. Jesse needs specialized gear. He also lives in Tampa, Fl.
To help with the costs associated with getting Jesse to become a licensed skydiver, there will be a fundraising event at Skydive Tuskegee in Tuskegee, AL on July 12th and 13th. Everyone from the most experienced skydiver to a first time tandem jumper to someone wanting to keep their feet on the ground is welcome to the event. The activities will include Angle and Free Flying with Andrew Pye, Swoop ‘N Chug, Accuracy, Tattoo Raffle, Gear Raffles, Games, Door Prizes, Motorcycle Stunts, Saturday Night Dinner with a Smoked Whole Hog and Bonfire, and much more. Like and share our Facebook Page for more information.
Our Facebook page is located at: www.facebook.com/JumpingWithJesse
To donate to Jumping With Jesse go to: fundly.com/jumping-with-jesse
For any more information or sponsorship opportunity, please contact:
Tyler Nelson, Jumping With Jesse Creator
Cell: (762) 241-8544
[email protected]