Fatality in the UK

[base704 0]

Alcohol was not a factor in Tom Manship's death.

You can get a lot more done with a kind word and a gun than with a kind word alone.

[Treejumps 0]

Littlestranger. PM me for details. There is a dispute as to the previous one, but if you saw the video it would be quite conclusive to you.

[sabre210 0]

Well i guessed that. But that was originally what i inferred when i read that comment, and i wasn't alone in that.

That's the point. When someone dies in this game, sometimes it's best to say nothing until we know exactly what has happened. Initial comments can just fuel wild speculation and often though the facts eventually refute these spurious claims, the historical record is sometimes slow to catch up, and sometimes it never does

The comparisons with the death of Brian Stout here are more than obvious and look at how bitterly disputed that case is, even now, many years after his death.

No offence was intended.

ian

[Treejumps 0]

No offence is intended anywhere with regards to Paul's incident. It sucks when someone goes in but I find it far more tragic when it is something so preventable. I was truly shocked to hear the about the pullup cord/PC. I thought after the rubberband incident (disputed or not it certainly brought that issue to the forefront) that the practive of using anything (OK, a clamp would be damn hard to leave on and stuff in you pouch) to constrict a PC for stowing would have been considered bad juju, and abandoned by at all.

I guess with the constantly growing number of new folks getting in the sport and the further and further distillation of knowledge that even simple things like this are still going to be out there, and worse yet, taught to some unknowing student. Unlike the random "shit hapens" 180, bad opening, or unstable launch, this incident is 100% preventable by some very easily learned and practiced techniques.

[sabre210 0]

A public discussion is absolutely essential and many of us in the UK were fully aware of the necessity to get the details out into the open as soon as possible so that others could learn from them and prevent another tragedy. However, this could only be done once it was established that Paul employed this packing technique and that it was the cause of his death.

The implication that there was some seedy cover up of the facts is not appreciated, that's all.

[littlestranger 0]

Quote

you yourself implied that alcohol could have been a factor in the equation

no i did not. i referenced his last post which was days prior to the incident.

[nigelh 0]

The BBC have updated their news report and named Paul,

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/kent/4813134.stm

Really not sure about the wording 'found dead'
Makes it sound like he was just left there for someone to find,

I was on the ground when he jumped,
and apart from the last split second when i turned away, i saw everything,
I checked him over, I made the 999 call (at 23:50 on Saturday 11th March 2006), I led the first two Policemen right to him, and the others all followed on. That's why i think the word 'found' is inapproriate.

It's taken me a long time to write anything about this on here, but i was one of the two men with Paul at the time.

Not really a BASE jumper as i have only jumped once and i walked down from this object because something didn't feel right, but be safe out there guys.

BSBD

Nigel

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Sponored by NZ Aerosports, CYPRES 2, Tonfly & L&B

Team Dirty Sanchez #232

[Treejumps 0]

No implication of a seedy cover up. Sorry if it sounded that way. Truly just very surprised that this was the cause.

BSBD

[sabre210 0]

Crossed Wires Tree. PM sent.

ian

[cpoxon 0]

Quote

i walked down from this object because something didn't feel right

What were the weather conditions when you climbed down?

Skydiving Fatalities - Cease not to learn 'til thou cease to live

[nigelh 0]

The skies were clear and full of stars, the moon was almost full, visibility was perfect, could see Canary Wharf clearly in the distance,
There was a very light calm wind, and it was absolutely freezing!

However, can't see how the weather could haver any effect on what happened.

When i said 'something didn't feel right' it was something in my mind, nothing else,

Nigel

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Sponored by NZ Aerosports, CYPRES 2, Tonfly & L&B

Team Dirty Sanchez #232

[Luke 0]

Quote

There was a very light calm wind, and it was absolutely freezing!

However, can't see how the weather could haver any effect on what happened.

The weather has no direct link to this particular fatality.

It is still an important detail, when trying to picture events to know what the weather was doing.

What would you call a very light, calm wind? I understand that you are a skydiver, but try and estimate it in MPH at the middle platform if you made it up there.

More importantly, what was the direction of the wind? For example, would you estimate that it was blowing towards Canary Wharf, or away from it?

Thanks.

[nigelh 0]

Really bad at guessing wind speeds,
If i recall, the forecast said 6mph, and i checked that on o2 WAP just before we arrived,

As for the wind direction,
If you stand with your back to the access gate, looking up the path, it was blowing in that direction, from across the water.
Does that make sense?

Nigel

-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~
Sponored by NZ Aerosports, CYPRES 2, Tonfly & L&B

Team Dirty Sanchez #232