First tandem fatalities

[jakebaustin 9]

Was reading this- https://mcusercontent.com/e8fc934d6d96baf0579c77a10/files/1c1e851a-1df4-3cba-3cb5-1a3d66965c9c/wss_2022.pdf - the 2022 world skydiving statistics Australian Parachute Federation and got to thinking about the first tandem fatalities. 
 

was curious curious who knows the history, where the first incidents were, what happened etc. The earliest i could find was the Coors Demo double fatality in Perris 1988

[pchapman 261]

Here's what I have, data from about 30 years back when I was new to the sport and a bit obsessed with collecting data and understanding the sport. 

1. Two pages from I guess the Italian skydiving magazine in 1992 listing the early tandem fatalities in order. (Apparently there was also one on a European Galaxy rig sometime in that era, that isn't in those stats.)  First tandem fatality is shown as the one with one snap not done up, TI spent entire jump trying to hook it up, without deploying anything (even the drogue).

2. An html file from UPT listing tandem fatalities and causes in order (but with no dates). From 2008, back when they listed that on their web site. 

3. Scribbled pencil notes of mine from the early 1990s, where I listed a bit of the evolution of tandems (eg the date when Strong & Booth got their FAA exemptions to allow tandems), plus all the early fatalities and dates.  I think most of the data on dates comes from an article in Parachutist,July 1989. (Which I can't find at the moment.)

That list puts that first tandem fatality -- with the snap not done up -- as Oct 19, 1986.

Back in those days people were wondering what the heck was going on with Vector tandems, as in the first dozen fatal accidents, there were 10 on Vectors, and 1 on a Galaxy, before there was 1 was a Strong Dual Hawk. There sure were a lot of different causes of accidents -- Stupid stuff we're not allowed to do with tandems now, main bags that much more easily came out of the container early, plus a lot more casual training and attitudes towards tandems. Which brought in the idea that 'it isn't just another skydive'.  It also took a while to come up with the first tandem CYPRES, and eventually the idea of making one mandatory for tandems. (Wish I had the dates for those.)

RWS tandem fatality list as of Feb08.htm

[dudeman17 270]

On 3/17/2024 at 10:27 AM, jakebaustin said:

the Coors Demo double fatality in Perris 1988

Not sure if you just worded that wrong, but that was not a demo. It was two highly experienced jumpers doing a tandem at the Perris dz. I believe it's number 5 on the first page of pchapman's list above. Dave Wilds was the TM, Terry Dean was the passenger. (I won't name the camera flyer out of respect for his privacy. It was not KC.) Dave and Terry were part of a world-class top-competitor 8-way team captained by Al Krueger. The team ran for a number of years and was normally known as Visions, but for a couple years they were sponsored by Coors. I believe it's Dave Wilds that can be seen at 0:46 to 1:07 in the video linked below, in the white jumpsuit and helmet, blue rig, doing the ultra-cool hands-behind-the-back swoop. Yes, that's what 'swooping' referred to back then. Horrifically sad day.

Just thought I'd remember that...

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpaIZLdnZVc

[JerryBaumchen 1,048]

3 hours ago, dudeman17 said:

Not sure if you just worded that wrong, but that was not a demo. It was two highly experienced jumpers doing a tandem at the Perris dz. I believe it's number 5 on the first page of pchapman's list above. Dave Wilds was the TM, Terry Dean was the passenger. (I won't name the camera flyer out of respect for his privacy. It was not KC.) Dave and Terry were part of a world-class top-competitor 8-way team captained by Al Krueger. The team ran for a number of years and was normally known as Visions, but for a couple years they were sponsored by Coors. I believe it's Dave Wilds that can be seen at 0:46 to 1:07 in the video linked below, in the white jumpsuit and helmet, blue rig, doing the ultra-cool hands-behind-the-back swoop. Yes, that's what 'swooping' referred to back then. Horrifically sad day.

Just thought I'd remember that...

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpaIZLdnZVc

Hi 17,

Re:   Dave and Terry were part of a world-class top-competitor 8-way team captained by Al Krueger.

Not to argue; but, are you sure that Al was the captain at that time?  I 'thought' that by the time that they became the Coors Team that Craig Fronk was running things.

I am fairly sure that Craig was the guy who got them the Coors sponsorship.

However, I've been wrong before & will be again.

Jerry Baumchen 

[dudeman17 270]

2 hours ago, JerryBaumchen said:

Not to argue; but, are you sure that Al was the captain at that time?  I 'thought' that by the time that they became the Coors Team that Craig Fronk was running things.

I am fairly sure that Craig was the guy who got them the Coors sponsorship.

Well it's been a long time, but I thought Al was running the team the whole time, even when Craig was there. If Craig was who got them the sponsorship that may well be, but the way I remember it...

But it has been a long time and I could be wrong myself...

Kleggo, you reading this? Do you remember?

-----------------

On a side note, did you do anything to make that link a clicky? I don't know how that works, all I know is to copy and paste the url. Sometimes it embeds, sometimes it clickies, sometimes it does neither, and I don't do anything different?

[wmw999 2,122]

5 hours ago, dudeman17 said:

On a side note, did you do anything to make that link a clicky? I don't know how that works, all I know is to copy and paste the url. Sometimes it embeds, sometimes it clickies, sometimes it does neither, and I don't do anything different?

To make a clicky: 

Go to the top portion of the "making your post" box

and select the "chain link" icon (circled). 

That brings up a box which is utterly self-explanatory. If you just paste in the URL, the link itself shows up as clicky. If you paste some alternate text in the "link text" box, then you get something like this. (click the blue word)

Wendy P.

[JerryBaumchen 1,048]

12 hours ago, dudeman17 said:

Well it's been a long time, but I thought Al was running the team the whole time, even when Craig was there. If Craig was who got them the sponsorship that may well be, but the way I remember it...

But it has been a long time and I could be wrong myself...

Kleggo, you reading this? Do you remember?

-----------------

On a side note, did you do anything to make that link a clicky? I don't know how that works, all I know is to copy and paste the url. Sometimes it embeds, sometimes it clickies, sometimes it does neither, and I don't do anything different?

Hi 17,

Re:   I thought Al was running the team the whole time, even when Craig was there.

I first met Craig in about 1970; he had about 25-35 jumps.  He began his jumping at the old Issaquah, WA dz.

Craig was a true organizer/team leader.  He tried & tried to build a competitive team here in the PacNW.  The weather would just not allow it.  So, he relocated to SoCal.  It only took him a few yrs to 'move' Al K out as the team leader.  

C'est la vie,

Jerry Baumchen

 

[dudeman17 270]

9 hours ago, JerryBaumchen said:

I first met Craig in about 1970; he had about 25-35 jumps.  He began his jumping at the old Issaquah, WA dz.

Craig was a true organizer/team leader.  He tried & tried to build a competitive team here in the PacNW.  The weather would just not allow it.  So, he relocated to SoCal.  It only took him a few yrs to 'move' Al K out as the team leader.  

Again, it's been a long time and maybe I've forgotten some things...  But the way I remember it, Visions ran for a number of years. I think the Coors sponsorship only lasted two seasons, then they went back to being Visions. I know Craig (and Hod Sanders) jumped with them for a bit, but I think that was only one season towards the end. Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but your term 'move out' sort of sounds like 'hostile takeover'. I can't imagine any of those people having anything but the utmost respect for each other. Maybe Al sort of retired from it at the end, but I don't remember that. I don't remember a Visions that wasn't led by Al, and I was a regular at Perris through that era. I was kind of hoping Kleggo would chime in, because he was too.

I'm certainly aware of Craig Fronk, but I'm not as familiar with him. But you might be forgetting and conflating the years he spent with Mirror Image in Pope Valley (where he might have took over for Jerry Bird?) between his times in WA and SoCal.

 

(thanks, Wendy!)

[JerryBaumchen 1,048]

13 hours ago, dudeman17 said:

Again, it's been a long time and maybe I've forgotten some things...  But the way I remember it, Visions ran for a number of years. I think the Coors sponsorship only lasted two seasons, then they went back to being Visions. I know Craig (and Hod Sanders) jumped with them for a bit, but I think that was only one season towards the end. Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but your term 'move out' sort of sounds like 'hostile takeover'. I can't imagine any of those people having anything but the utmost respect for each other. Maybe Al sort of retired from it at the end, but I don't remember that. I don't remember a Visions that wasn't led by Al, and I was a regular at Perris through that era. I was kind of hoping Kleggo would chime in, because he was too.

I'm certainly aware of Craig Fronk, but I'm not as familiar with him. But you might be forgetting and conflating the years he spent with Mirror Image in Pope Valley (where he might have took over for Jerry Bird?) between his times in WA and SoCal.

 

(thanks, Wendy!)

Hi 17,

My posting history shows that my memory is not perfect.  However, I do believe that Craig was never with Mirror Image.  I am quite sure that during those yrs he was trying to put a competitive team together here in the PacNW.

Jerry Baumchen

PS)  Re:   but your term 'move out' sort of sounds like 'hostile takeover'

Would Al's 'retirement' sound better?  

 

[dudeman17 270]

4 hours ago, JerryBaumchen said:

However, I do believe that Craig was never with Mirror Image.

Huh?? Did you look at the video I linked to? The 2nd comment, someone names the team members including Craig, and he can be seen several times in the video. Jerry Swovelin could clear this up, but I don't think he comes in here anymore except when he has news to post. I'm not on Facebook, but if you are (or someone else who's reading), maybe someone in the Old School Skydivers' page can confirm one way or the other.

[JerryBaumchen 1,048]

1 hour ago, dudeman17 said:

Huh?? Did you look at the video I linked to? The 2nd comment, someone names the team members including Craig, and he can be seen several times in the video. Jerry Swovelin could clear this up, but I don't think he comes in here anymore except when he has news to post. I'm not on Facebook, but if you are (or someone else who's reading), maybe someone in the Old School Skydivers' page can confirm one way or the other.

Hi 17,

Yup, I was wrong.  I had not realized that Craig spent anytime with them.  Would it have been prior to his re-locating to SoCal?

Jerry Baumchen

[dudeman17 270]

44 minutes ago, JerryBaumchen said:

Would it have been prior to his re-locating to SoCal?

Yes. I believe Craig spent the bulk of his prime competitive career with Mirror Image. For several years Visions and Mirror Image were cross-state rivals, both striving to unseat the formidable US Army Golden Knights, who's full time job was to win skydiving competitions. (Who was the guy that ran that team, Andy somethingorother?) I think it was after MI disbanded that Craig and Hod jumped with Visions, along with Al, for one season, perhaps Visions' last. I don't think he actually lived here for any time, or I would be more familiar with him. I've lived in and jumped So Cal all my life.

[kleggo 138]

Hi Matt and others following this thread.

The closest I got to Visions / Coors was occasionally sharing the DC3 with them.

(and buying a Dactyl from Ken Crabtree, nice step up from my Hank Ascuitto (sp?) round)

They were professional, efficient, friendly.

Al was certainly the "face" of the team to my knowledge, but I don't know who the leader was, when.

[kleggo 138]

On 3/22/2024 at 3:41 PM, dudeman17 said:

Huh?? Did you look at the video I linked to? 

I certainly did. From Carl's Masters of the Sky?  Music and fil gives me spine chills to this day.

[dudeman17 270]

Hi Craig, thanks for looking in. I was hoping you'd remember more, but that's ok. If Craig Fronk was an aeronautical engineer and spent significant time at Perris, do you think that you'd have been acquainted with him?

 

2 hours ago, kleggo said:

From Carl's Masters of the Sky?

The first video of the Elsinore 50-way was Carl's, and the sequence was in 'Skydive!'. The second, Mirror Image video was BJ Worth's, with help from Rande DeLuca and others.

[JerryBaumchen 1,048]

4 hours ago, kleggo said:

Hi Matt and others following this thread.

The closest I got to Visions / Coors was occasionally sharing the DC3 with them.

(and buying a Dactyl from Ken Crabtree, nice step up from my Hank Ascuitto (sp?) round)

They were professional, efficient, friendly.

Al was certainly the "face" of the team to my knowledge, but I don't know who the leader was, when.

Hi Craig,

As noted above, I've been wrong about some of this.

Al K for sure was the 'face' and leader of Cap'n Hook & the Sky Pirates.  

When Craig Fronk re-located to SoCal, he got on Al's team.  IMO it did not take long & Craig was running the team.  Then it became known as Visions & then Coors.  At least, that is how I remember things.

I knew some of the guys on Cleareye Express quite well, but not Craig.

See this:  who were the first 8-way world champs - Skydiving History & Trivia - Dropzone.com

The last I heard of Craig was 'about' 20 yrs ago when he applied for the position of USPA Ex Director; he did not get the job.

Also, the last time I saw Al K was at the memorial for Gary Douris at Elsinore, about 2009.

Jerry Baumchen