Parachutist caught in storm
A skydiver who was sucked into a thundercloud and landed unscathed has picked up the nickname "Little Miracle." Montreal student Mathieu Gagnon walked out of the Ottawa Hospital Monday morning, laughing at jokes and promising to leap out of an airplane again soon. Except for sore muscles, the 21-year-old was unharmed from a bizarre accident Sunday.
"This is something that we will be talking about in the skydiving world for the rest of our lives," said Martin Audit, president of Paramax, a Gatineau, Que., skydiving company.
"He was in the black cloud with the lightning and everything," said Julie Desjardins, a Paramax employee who tracked the near-disaster from the ground. "He's a very lucky guy."
But Gagnon, a skydiver with 20 other jumps under his belt, has refused to talk about the accident for fear it will give people the wrong impression of his sport.
On Sunday afternoon, he was one of five experienced parachutists on board Paramax's Cessna 182 as it climbed above the Gatineau Airport. Each had signed a waiver and paid $32 for the jump.
Thunderstorm warnings had been issued for the region but local conditions seemed safe, Desjardins said. "We do not let them jump if there's a storm coming in. The tower will say: 'No, stop. Land with the plane.' The pilot will say the same also."
The go-ahead came because southerly winds were moving torrential rains and high winds in the opposite direction, Desjardins said. "The storm was about four kilometres away. It just suddenly turned, and it was amazing. I had never seen that in my life. Ever."
Just before 5 p.m., the five men leapt out of the small plane about 2,000 metres above the ground. Within a minute, the winds had shifted, sending dark clouds hurtling toward the jumpers.
The skydivers knew they were in trouble. But Gagnon, who had been the first to open his parachute, was a few hundred metres above the others. He was the only one sucked into a black cloud.
From the ground, Audit watched in panic as Gagnon disappeared. For five minutes, Gagnon was missing. He later told Audit that he was trapped in a black fog, hurtling upwards. Gagnon checked his altimeter -- he had climbed 1,000 metres. He cut away his main parachute and tumbled toward the ground until he was out of the clouds.
Then Gagnon opened his reserve parachute and drifted helplessly. About 15 minutes later, he landed on the south side of the Ottawa River, in Orleans, Ont., about 25 kilometres south of the airfield where he was supposed to touch down.
He ended up on a road a few kilometres from the river, and was jarred when his chute snagged on a parked car, Desjardins said. Area resident Ronald Wright heard a crash and found Gagnon in his driveway, alert but unable to talk.
Back in Quebec, the four other parachuters had already landed -- all but one a few kilometres away from the landing spot near the airport. One man broke both his legs.
"It was the worst experience of their lives," Audit said. "When the big wind catches you, you don't know if you are going to survive. They were crying when they landed on the ground -- they were that happy to be alive."
~ Patti Edgar for the Edmonton Journal
Mathieu's story in his own words..
I thought about giving my own version of what happened that Sunday June 23rd 2002, since it happened to me. I think sharing this experience with other skydivers is good for the community's knowledge. On my side, a great part of my actions were inspired by stories, facts and tricks that I had heard.
First, I am a novice, this jump was my 24th - the 5th of my current season. I was then testing equipment that I just bought (Hurricane 220, Racer, Phantom 24, no AAD). Upon takeoff, the weather was acceptable, the wind was calm, the ceiling was at about 7000ft. I was the last to exit, since I was opening at 4000' - to test my equipment.
Already upon opening, the problems began : line twists and one line had also broken. My canopy was still manoeuvrable. I was heading slowly for the dropzone when I noticed the wind changed its direction, and was getting stronger and stronger. I was at 3000' at that moment.
Suddenly I was in a big grey cloud, for I very well knew that there were no clouds under or around me… I checked my altitude: I was now at 6000ft… and all this happened in less than 30 seconds! In the cloud, the wind was very strong and it was coming from every direction. I tried to pull on my front risers to loose some altitude, but a canopy of 220sq.ft. in such conditions overwhelmed me - when I succeeded in lowering them slightly, the wind was gaining the control back on it very brutally, and I was scared that my canopy would not resist such strong gusts.
The idea of cutting away came to me at that moment (I had already heard a similar story). I looked at both my handles, took a deep breath and pulled the cut-away. That was my first cut-away and I must admit that the feeling of falling from the canopy is something special.
I pulled the reserve at about 3000', which I consider a mistake in its own. I was out of the grey cloud, but I was still quite high, and not going down - but nevertheless I was not going up either! I was still unable to pull of the front risers with my arms because of the strong wind. Then it occurred to me to use my legs in order to lower the front risers. The wind was too strong, and my 145lbs was not sufficient to pull both risers at the same time. But with all my weight pulling on 2-3 lines at the front, I was able to loose little altitude at a time. This was hard and long work, very eventful. I succeeded in getting as low as 1000ft. Still, I consider it an error to have opened my reserve at 3000ft, this is probably what allowed me to cross the "Outaouais River", which is by the way a very large river.
In the last 1000 feet I was falling much faster. I was not able to orient my round canopy, neither to brake; so I made a hard landing. I had landed on my feet, but I fell on my back afterward, my canopy got hooked on a car parked not very far from where I landed). After that, people from the home I landed on came to my help and called an ambulance. I was in pretty bad shape at that moment, but I got away with some cracked ribs and a back sprain. Later on, people told me I landed between 20 to 25 km (12-16 miles) from the dropzone, and that was in the sky for 25 to 30 minutes.
Mathieu Atze Gagnon
June 25th 2002
Now you may ask yourself this question: what would I have done? There were 5 other jumpers on that load. Only one made the dropzone, the other three landed about a kilometer away. One of them broke both his legs (he cut away his main to avoid being dragged by the strong wind and to not aggravate his wounds). Other fact, the police department of Ottawa found the canopy on June 26th 2002. Where exactly and in what condition; we don't yet know.
Translated from Mathieu's testimonial on the www.freefly.ca web site, by Louis Allard.
Skydiver in near miss with slurry bomber
Just wanted to show you guys a video that I took this Saturday (15 June 2002). I am sure that you have heard about the fires here near Denver. We were jumping at Longmont, just north of Denver, my home DZ. There were slurry bombers flying over the center of the airport, at 3000' agl, despite several calls to the US Forestry Service.
View the Video
The tankers were not listening to the airport frequency, looking at the sectional charts that indicated that Longmont had parachute activity and didn't talk to Denver Center or Approach. The DZ was operating strictly according to USPA guidelines. The jump plane pilot tried to contact the pilots of the slurry bombers on several frequencies, to no avail.
End result - after a great head-down jump with a friend of mine, we broke off at ~6000', and I planned on falling until about 2500', and then pull. At 3000', I heard a plane fly under me from the north, and I fell in between the vertical stabilizer and elevator. Notice the tail fly under me in the video.
Peter Konrad
Balloon Mass Skydive World Record
Sixteen skydivers jumped into the world record books on Friday 31st May 2002 when they all skydived from one of the UK's largest hot air balloons, 10,500ft above Peterborough Parachute centre nr Sibson. The Cameron A300 hot air balloon was flown by 28 year old commercial balloon pilot David Fish who flies full time for Flying Pictures the countries leading commercial balloon operator.
With two twin squirrel helicopters circling the balloon, filming the record attempt for national television, it climbed at between 500 & 800 feet per minute to the target altitude of 10,500 feet. After flying for twenty minutes the balloon was directly overhead Sibson airfield.
With the skydivers all standing around the edge of the basket and a rapid decent established all sixteen skydivers exited simultaneously. With the loss of just over 1 tonne in weight the balloon entered a very fast climb, causing distortion and partial collapse of the envelope. Eventually levelling off at just over 11,000 ft.
"It was quite a wild ride," explains David Fish, balloon pilot and project co-ordinator. "Pretty much as soon as they all left the balloon began distorting and spinning as it climbed rapidly and all I could do was hold on and wait for it to slow down."
Velvet Toilet Tissue, whose hot air balloon was used for the record attempt, built a special softer than ever landing zone for the parachutists. The zone, a 10-metre radius circle covering more than 314 square metres, was made from more than 5000 rolls of softer than ever Quilted Velvet loo rolls. The zone could be seen from more than 10,000 feet and acted as a target for the skydivers. All sixteen made the landing zone, with some making good use of the toilet rolls to soften their landing!
Team Members
Skydivers:
1. Matt Lee
2. Ian Ashpole
3. Andy Bennett
4. Simon Ward
5. Giles Fabrisv
6. David Sawyer
7. Dorian Harwood
8. Martin Williams
9. Steve Springys
10. Stuart Meacock
11. Rose Leggett
12. Mark Harris
13. Chris Donaldson
14. Andy Guest
15. Dave du Plessis
16. Rhino
Pilot:
David Fish
For further information please contact David Fish @ Flying Pictures Ltd. [email protected]
Photos: DSCF Flying Pictures Ltd and Simon Ward
Skydive Indiana paid to leave airport
For about 20 years, Cathie Schlatter has been parachuting at Frankfort’s airport. She has six more days. Skydive Indiana decided to pack up its parachutes and leave the Frankfort airport at Thursday night’s Frankfort Airport Authority meeting.
Dave Geyer, president of Skydive Indiana, presented the authority a contract to sell his hangar for $90,000, and the authority accepted, said Mike Reeder, president of the airport authority. Geyer has been in Frankfort for nine years and was in the fourth year of a 20-year lease with an option for five additional years.
“They made us an offer to buy the building and cease operations, and we accepted,” Reeder said.
Schlatter said Frankfort’s days of having sky divers are over.
“Nobody wants to come here,” she said. “Frankfort’s airport has a reputation for being hostile, not just in the jumping community, but in the entire aviation community. (Geyer) was forced to close up shop. It’s sad for me because it used to be so different. Frankfort’s airport used to be a really fun place to go.”
Now Schlatter and other Skydive customers will search for another landing zone, she said.
“When a restaurant closes up, you go down the street and look for another one,” she sad. “For us, it’s a little harder. But lots of communities love us.”
Skydive Indiana will stop jumping at the airport within the next week and will vacate the premises within 30 days, according to the resolution signed by the authority.
Skydive Indiana has battled both the authority and Frankfort Flight Services, who runs the day-to-day operations of the airport, for the past two years.
In April 2001, Frankfort Flight Services demanded Skydive Indiana stop allowing parachutists to land at the airport because it was dangerous to the parachutists and planes. In response, Skydive Indiana went to court. Three months later, the move landed both sides in federal court.
Eventually, both sides agreed to let the jumpers return to the Frankfort airport on weekends until the FAA decided whether they are safe. Skydive Indiana also agreed to dismiss its lawsuit against the authority and the city.
Last month, Geyer complained that the reduced hours hampered his business and that his jumpers suffered harassment from the airport’s management.
In 1999, Skydive Indiana customers performed 6,000 jumps; in 2000, they did 5,800 and in 2001 they did 3,300, Geyer said.
Even though Skydive Indiana will not be jumping at the airport, the FAA will still make a ruling, Reeder said.
“(The FAA) won’t just drop this,” he said. “I don’t know when, but they will make a ruling.”
The authority is not sure what it will do with the hangar, Reeder said.
“We might work with the city engineer and fire chief to see if we can rent it for aircrafts,” he said. “It could act as storage, although other options are available.”
Skydive Indiana and Frankfort Flight Service first clashed in July 2000, when both wanted to manage the airport. The authority was unable to decide, with former authority members Stan Smith and Bill Clinton in favor of Geyer’s group and Reeder and Gene Watchbaugh in favor of Frankfort Flight Services.
The authority turned the decision over to the Frankfort City Council, and Frankfort Flight Services was awarded the contract. In the following year, both Smith and Clinton were not reappointed to the authority by Mayor Roy Scott.
Geyer could not be reached this morning for comment.
Blue Skies, Johnny "Velocity"
On a chilly but otherwise beautiful May day, we lost a brother to a freefall collision and subsequent no-pull. John Faulkner (known to many as "Johnny Velocity" or "Johnny Wood"), an avid jumper and tandem instructor with over 1,000 jumps, died on Saturday, May 18 at Skydive Chicago during a two-way freefly jump with Jeff Brown.
John, an experienced freeflyer, had been doing tandems for most of the day, and this was thought to be his first non-instructional jump of the day. The plan was for the two to go head-down on exit and for Jeff, who has about 35 jumps, to try to maintain stability and proximity with John. "We got a lot of vertical separation early in the dive (I was low)," said Jeff. "We'd agreed that if I didn't get a good head down, I'd sitfly. I saw him orbit me once while I tried to get into a good head down, and then I decided to go into a sit.
"I believe that he tried to catch up with me (from above) after that, and I think I had gotten into a sit when something hit me from behind and on my right side. My right arm went numb and my knee hurt, and I didn't know at first what it was. As I pulled I saw him falling away from me on his back with his arms over his chest. I believe he was knocked unconscious when it happened."
John was wearing an open-face hard helmet, had an audible altimeter, and his rig had a Cypres automatic activation device that either was turned off, had cycled off, or malfunctioned, as it did not fire. SSK Industries will test the unit to determine which was the case.
Blue skies, Johnny--you'll be missed.
Note: This information is from a witness report. The results of the investigation will be released in Parachutist at a later date.
Team Funnel (a loose organization of skydivers at Skydive Chicago dedicated to the belief that no one should have to jump alone) sponsored a fundraiser in the names of Johnny and other skydivers who have passed away (for the Make-A-Wish Foundation) on Saturday, May 25 and Sunday, May 26. Their goal was $4,600--the average cost of this foundation's fulfilling someone's wish--and the total raised was over $5,400.
Two die as skydiver hits glider
Two people fell to their deaths after a freak mid-air collision when a skydiver smashed through the wing of a glider. The glider's pilot also died in the collision at around 2,000ft, which happened at Hinton Airfield, near Brackley, Northants, at about 1500 BST on Saturday.
The wing of the glider was knocked off by the force of the impact and both people were killed instantly, a spokesman for the Air Accidents Investigations Branch said.
A Northamptonshire police spokesman said the glider came down in a field close to the private airfield.
Investigation launched
Among the first to arrive at the scene was a crew from Two Shires Ambulance Service who confirmed the deaths.
A spokesman said: "We arrived to find a parachutist was deceased and the glider pilot also deceased.
"There were no other casualties."
An AAIB spokesman said few details of the accident were available but confirmed the tragedy.
"A parachutist flew into the glider knocking off its wing," he said.
"There are two fatalities ... the pilot and the parachutist."
Investigators are due to attend the scene to establish in greater detail how the accident happened - they will be assisted by the Parachute Association.
Staff at Hinton Skydiving Centre, which is based at the airfield, were unable to comment as the incident is being investigated.
~ BBC
Lee "Skypunk" Werling Dies In Fall From TV Tower
BITHLO -- Carrying parachutes, the three men hopped the fence surrounding the television tower in rural east Orange County early Thursday and rode the elevator 1,682 feet to the top. Then, simultaneously, they jumped from the steel girders to the fog-shrouded cow pasture below.
At six seconds, the first chute opened. The second chute opened two seconds later.
But Timothy Lee Werling II, who friends told police was addicted to danger, waited a fatal 11 seconds before pulling the cord and plunged to his death at 172 feet per second.
As Werling, 30, fell, the video camera strapped to his helmet recorded his final jump.
"If he had even pulled it at 10 seconds, he probably would have survived," Orange County Sheriff's Detective Rick Lallement said.
Two other men took part in the pre-dawn adventure -- one jumping from a lower platform 1,000 feet from the ground and the other deciding at the last moment not to jump.
Werling, who moved to DeLand recently from Ohio, was known as "Sky Punk" for his daring exploits. He had made 600 jumps off towers, cliffs and bridges as part of the extreme sport known as BASE jumping.
"When you have a son that lives for the adrenaline of BASE jumping, you sort of expect it," Timothy Werling, 57, said in a telephone interview Thursday from his home in the Cincinnati suburb of West Chester, shortly after learning of his son's death. ". . . He died doing the thing he loved."
The cluster of television masts near Bithlo has become popular with BASE jumpers -- an acronym for buildings, antennae, spans and earth. Mountain Dew even filmed a television commercial for the soft drink, showing jumpers leaping from one of the towers.
Werling's friends told Lallement that he was the kind of jumper who pushed his jumps to the limit.
"They're cocky," Lallement said. "They're big-time thrill seekers. Jumping out of an airplane isn't enough."
One of the group called 911 shortly after 7 a.m. to report Werling's death. Werling apparently died an hour earlier.
"He's dead," the caller told the emergency operator. "Impact injuries. High speed to the ground."
Police said that Werling's friends, whom they did not identify, went some distance to a pay phone at a convenience store to make the call reporting his death.
By all accounts, Werling was an experienced sky diver and BASE jumper. Investigators at the scene found a picture of Werling at the New River Gorge in West Virginia. That spot is so popular it is closed annually so jumpers can use it exclusively.
Passion for jumping
Werling apparently moved to Central Florida to indulge in his passion for jumping year-round.
He lived in a one-bedroom apartment in north DeLand, where his landlady remembered him as a "well-spirited" person. He worked as an administrative assistant at Skydive DeLand, a popular sky-diving operation.
"I'm very sad," said Mike Johnston, Skydive DeLand's general manager. "He was pretty exuberant and passionate about life."
To veteran parachutists, BASE jumping is a perilous version of their sport but draws many seasoned sky divers because of its daredevil stunts and increased rush from jumping at lower altitudes.
"It's popular. I've never made a BASE jump," said Brian Erler, a sky-diving cameraman who works at Skydive Space Center in Titusville. "Depending on the altitude, it's total acceleration. I'm sure it's pretty intense."
Unlike skydiving, where parachutes open at 2,500 feet after sky divers jump from airplanes at 15,000 feet, BASE jumpers leap from lower heights and have far less time to open their parachutes.
Seconds to spare
A few seconds is all BASE jumpers have, but skydivers can have more than a minute before pulling open their parachutes. Unofficial counts put the number of BASE-jumping deaths worldwide at 40. There are an estimated 10,000 active BASE jumpers.
Because the sport sometimes requires its participants to trespass on private property, jumpers often avoid authorities.
"This is a big organization that does this stuff," sheriff's spokesman Carlos Torres said. "It's a common sport. But in Orange County, this is the first documented [BASE-jumping death] we have had."
That is not to say jumpers have been avoiding the area.
Lallement said the Sheriff's Office had spotted at least eight jumpers in the area on three separate occasions during the past few months.
John Stargel, vice president and general counsel for Tampa-based Richland Towers Inc., the parent company for the tower, said the company will review its policies in the wake of the incident.
"The tower is fenced. We have security in place," Stargel said. "But if someone is intent on breaching our security, there's only so much you can do to keep somebody from putting themselves in harm's way."
Lallement had little tolerance for the BASE jumpers who trespass to get to their jump-off points. In this case, the jumpers violated federal law because the location is regulated by the Federal Communications Commission.
~ Orlando Sentinel
Experienced skydiver dies on Memorial Day
Experienced skydiver Tony Weber, died Memorial Day weekend from injuries sustained from a hard landing at Cedartown Georgia, Atlanta Skydiving Center. During a holiday road trip with friends, to celebrate college graduation, Tony made a hard landing under a relatively new Vengence 150, at the DZ. He was airlifted off the DZ and died of his injuries 4 hours later.
Tony was a regular jumper at SEMO Skydiving. He was the president of the SIU Skydiving Club. He was a great role model for the new jumpers, and a positive influence on skydiving in general. He was working on his instructional rating and would have been an asset to our club, or any skydiving operation. He was a really good guy.
His parents moniter the NG if you would like to make a positive comment. I have the address of his parents if anyone would like to send a card.
We are all saddened by his loss, and will miss him. He died doing what he loved best...skydiving.
Paul Gholson SEMO Skydiving D-17101 instructor
Skydiver killed after striking head on plane
SUFFOLK, Va. May 11 — A former Navy SEAL and skydiving instructor died after he hit his head on a plane during a jump and fell to the ground without his parachute deployed. Brad Foster, 42, of Virginia Beach, was one of 14 parachutists practicing for a show this weekend when he jumped from the plane Friday, officials said.
Foster, who had more than 4,000 jumps to his credit, likely died upon impact with the plane, fire Capt. James Judkins Jr. said.
Foster's body was found in the back yard of a house about a quarter-mile from Suffolk Municipal Airport, where the flight originated.
Spectator hurt in demonstration jump
Gloucester, UK - DENISE Peacock was enjoying what seemed to be a perfect day out in the sunshine with her family - but seconds later a freak accident left her lucky to be alive.
The 36-year-old, from Coney Hill, was at a bumper May Day celebration in Gloucester watching a parachuting display when she heard a noise above her head.
Before the mother-of-two knew what was happening, she lay writhing in agony on the ground after one of the parachutists lost control in heavy winds, sailed out of the arena, and careered straight into her and her young family.
Today the Church Way resident is on crutches and off work - but she knows she's lucky not to have been more seriously hurt.
The vending machine operator suffered tissue damage and severe bruising to her legs, while husband Lawrence, 37, and children Amy, 12, and Sean, eight, all sustained cuts and bruises.
The parachutist is believed to have broken his leg, and remains in Gloucestershire Royal Hospital today.
Ambulances rushed Denise and the parachutist, from the volunteer Falling Rocks parachute team, to the hospital.
She was released after eight hours of treatment. He will remain in hospital for at least another week.
The family were at Coney Hill Neighbourhood Project's May Day celebrations at Coney Hill Primary School on Bank Holiday Monday when the accident happened.
The three-strong volunteer parachute team's performance, which took place at 2.15pm, was meant to be the highlight of the bumper event.
"The winds were so strong we thought they wouldn't jump," said Denise. "They took off about 20 minutes late, and they were all over the place.
"I don't have a clue how it happened, it was all so fast.
"People said the parachutist shouted for me to watch out, but I didn't hear anything.
"All I remember is lying on the ground in agony after he smashed into me, hitting the back of my legs.
"I was rushed to hospital. I've got a huge lump on one of my legs and I'm told I sustained tissue damage in the other, so I'm stuck on crutches and I can't go to work.
"The parachutist is in hospital at the moment - he's badly hurt. It was a nightmare."
Parachutist Colin Laker, who landed safely just before his out-of-control colleague, denied the winds were too strong to take the jump - but he admitted he probably got caught in an unexpected gust.
"It just happens once in a blue moon. We have to put it down to a tragic accident, I'm afraid," he said.
"The wind was most definitely not too strong to take the jump. It was very comfortable for us and there was no question of us not doing it.
"I understand the parachutist concerned landed beside the woman, and rolled over onto her - it was his momentum that caught her.
"He must have been caught in a gust of wind when he was up there, and was knocked out of control. I can only apologise and put it down to a freak accident."
Mr Laker said the parachutist did not wish to be identified.
Denise claimed she never received an apology from anyone at Coney Hill Neighbourhood Project, who organised the event.
But project spokeswoman Val O'Connor claimed it was not their responsibility.
"We contracted the Falling Rocks team to do a piece of work for us - and the decision to do the jump was taken by them and them only," she said.