Search the Community
Showing results for tags 'news'.
Found 523 results
-
A South African thief who stole a plane for a joyride had to land on a motorway when it ran out of fuel. He made the emergency landing on the N4 highway near Bronkhorstspruit, about 30 miles from Pretoria. Police say the aircraft was undamaged and the thief got away before he could be arrested. "We have no idea who the suspect is," police spokesman Capt. Piletji Sebola said. There was no apparent damage to the plane and there appeared to have been few cars on the road when it landed. One of the highway's two lanes was closed to traffic, Sebola said. The Cessna, used for skydiving, had been brought into Wonderboom airport in Pretoria on Sunday for a routine maintenance. The plane was stolen sometime Monday night or Tuesday morning. According to the flight instruments, it was flown for roughly one hour and 36 minutes before it ran out of fuel and was forced into an emergency landing. "I'm dumbstruck. He really knew what he was doing," said Carlos Garcia Cabral, the plane's owner. Police and airport officials were investigating how the plane was stolen.
-
MOSCOW: A small plane carrying a group of skydivers crashed shortly after takeoff from an airport in a remote part of Siberia on Saturday September 14, killing 11 people on board, an official said. The AN-2 plane went down about 2.5 kilometres (1.5 miles) from the runway in the village of Shalinskoye, in the Krasnoyarsk region, about 3,400 kilometres (2,100 miles) east of Moscow, said Gennady Savelyev, a duty officer at the Siberian emergency situations department. The plane was carrying 11 skydivers and 3 crew members. Of those on board, 10 were found dead at the crash site, and one died in the hospital. Three more are listed in critical condition. Savelyev said a preliminary investigation points to engine failure as the cause of the crash.
-
Marissa Partners, LLC has come to terms on a property located on the corner of Mission Trail Road and Corydon Street in Lake Elsinore CA. The 2 acre parcel is adjacent to the Lake Elsinore MotoCross Track and in very close proximity Skydive Elsinore. "The Company is very excited about this location and we see some wonderful opportunities to work with both Skydive Elsinore and Lake Elsinore MotoCross on this project." said a spokesperson for Marissa Partners, LLC. The Tunnel VS 1™ is the world's most advanced design indoor skydiving facility. The state-of-the-art complex will be the widest diameter commercial facility of its kind at 14 ft. and capable of producing wind speeds in excess of 150 mph. The Tunnel VS 1 Promotional GiveawayTo promote The Tunnel VS 1 the company is giving a way 500 T shirts for FREE to registered Dropzone.com users. The promotion will start run for 30 days till October 15, 2002. For more information and to register to enter the promotion, click on the link below. T-Shirt Giveaway Registration About Marissa Partners, LLC Marissa Partners is an investment holding company. Our primary business is the development and operation of The Tunnel VS 1™. The Company’s focus is to create and market an exciting new indoor sport called Sky Flying ™ and to provide a realistic skydiving and freefall simulator for skydiver and military training. CONTACT: Marissa Partners LLC Bruce Federici, 909/615-3052 [email protected]
-
Leigh Ainsworth's recipe for success is a volatile cocktail of nylon, titanium and huge air. At just 18 years of age she has become New Zealand's youngest commercial freefall photographer, and jumping out of a perfectly good aeroplane for a profession is something she has aspired to for many years. Leigh experienced her first tandem skydive at age 13 which started off her addiction for adrenaline. At age 16 and whilst still in high school, Leigh put all her savings into an AFF (Accelerated Freefall) Course to become certified to skydive solo and completed 126 skydives during the next year. Last year Leigh studied at the Christchurch Parachute School where she attained a NZQA Diploma in Skydiving. During this course students learnt all aspects of working within the skydive industry. Having previously skydived at Queenstown, Leigh was very excited to complete the work experience module of her course at NZONE 'The Ultimate Jump'. NZONE has been operating tandem skydiving in Queenstown for the past 12 years, and with the addition of a Cresco Turbine aircraft, and more recently a Fletcher Turbine, has enabled the company to do 15,000ft skydives and has more than doubled its capacity in the past 18 months. Strong product demand has provided the opportunity for Leigh and two other course graduates to be trained and employed by NZONE as commercial freefall photographers. "I've always wanted to be a skydiver. Now my dreams have come true, and being paid to jump is definitely an added bonus". Leigh's ultimate ambition is to one day achieve the title of 'World Freestyle Skydiving Champion' and with over 450 skydives already is well on her way. NZONE "The Ultimate Jump" - www.nzone.biz
-
A skydiving instructor who died in July while attempting to land on a pond at Skydive Chicago in Ottawa was seriously impaired by smoking marijuana within two hours of his death, according to a toxicology report released Wednesday. The report was made public an at inquest conducted by LaSalle County Coroner Jody Bernard into the death of Ronald Passmore Jr., 33, who died July 14 when he slammed chest first into the pond at the jump zone and died of a severed aorta. A coroner's jury declared the death accidental. Passmore's death was the sixth in a year at Skydive Chicago, a fatality rate eight times higher than the national average. He was the second instructor to die there this year and the second fatality since July 2001 in which drugs were found in the victim's system. The toxicology report, prepared by St. Louis University Hospital laboratory officials, showed Passmore's blood had a cannabis level about double that at which a person is considered impaired, according to laboratory director Dr. Christopher Long. "This (level in Passmore's blood) demonstrates relatively acute smoking within the last couple of hours before his death," said Long. This is serious impairment due to marijuana--cannabis--that would affect everything you could possibly use to skydive, particularly reaction time and depth perception." Efforts to reach Roger Nelson, operator of the Skydive Chicago, and Chris Needels, head of the U.S. Parachute Association, were unsuccessful. Needels was present at the jump zone for a USPA board of directors meeting on the day that Passmore and two other skydivers jumped from a plane with high-performance parachutes to perform a landing known as "pond swooping." The landing is a difficult maneuver in which a skydiver skims across the water, much like a water-skier, and then walks ashore. On that day, word had been passed that the three planned to swoop the tiny swimming pond at the dive zone and a small crowd had gathered. According to one observer, the first skydiver managed the maneuver successfully, but the second stalled into the water. Passmore was the final diver and as he came in, he made a sharp hook turn and pancaked onto the water, severing his aorta and causing numerous other internal injuries, according to the autopsy report. After Passmore's death, Nelson said he banned pond swooping at the jump zone. Passmore, a veteran of more than 1,300 jumps, had been living at the campground that is part of the Skydive Chicago compound and was working as an instructor for Nelson. Instructors are paid a fee, usually about $25, to accompany students who are taking up the sport. Skydive Chicago is one of the busiest drop zones in the Midwest with about 75,000 jumps a year. On May 18, John Faulkner, 28, also an instructor at the jump zone who was living at the campground, collided in the air with another jumper, rendering him unconscious. His backup chute failed despite being equipped with a device to open it automatically. No drugs or alcohol were detected in his system. On Oct. 18, 2001, Bruce Greig, of Jacksonville, Ill., died when his chute became entangled and he went into a spin. His emergency chute deployed too close to the ground and he died of chest injuries. A toxicology report was positive for cocaine, marijuana and Ecstasy.
-
Somewhere high in the skies above Saskatchewan, Canada this week, a retired French army parachutist will jump from a height of 40,000 metres in a freefall he hopes will propel him faster than the speed of sound. If 58-year-old Michel Fournier is successful, his stunt will shatter four world records: the highest, fastest and longest freefall jump, and the highest balloon ascent. Mr. Fournier and his team, who have dubbed this death-defying exercise Le Grand Saut or The Big Jump, were planning to take off in a massive helium balloon yesterday, but called off the jump because of high winds. "The team is ready for this and will every day now be checking the weather until conditions are just right," said Diane de Robiano, spokeswoman for the project.If the wind abates, the jump may take place in the next 24 hours, or possibly later in the week, she said. The exact location is being kept secret. This experiment into how the human body responds to breaking the sound barrier is to be conducted by freefalling from a height where the earth's atmosphere meets space, a distance the project's Web site depicts as 4 1/2 Mount Everests stacked on top of each other. The bizarre international venture has consumed the energies of more than two dozen scientists, physicians and technologists for more than a decade and has cost about US$3.4-million so far. For Mr. Fournier, who has embarked on a relentless personal training regime that has included more than 8,000 jumps and periods of meditation, the leap would be the realization of his life's ambition. He sold most of his personal assets and spent several years lining up international funding for the venture, which began as an unusual assignment when he was still a colonel in the French military. "What attracts me most is the extreme challenge," Mr. Fournier said in a press conference earlier this summer. The last attempt to break the highest freefall record proved to be fatal. In 1965, Nick Piantanida, a New Jersey truck driver, encountered equipment failure when his face mask blew out and the lack of oxygen caused such severe brain damage that he went into a four-month coma and died. The current record for longest freefall was set in 1960 by Joseph Kittinger, a U.S. army captain, who dropped 25,820 metres from a balloon and reached a maximum speed of 1,006 km/h, slightly faster than the speed of sound. He fell for four minutes and 37 seconds before his parachute opened. Mr. Fournier hopes to reach a maximum speed of 1,600 km/h, about 1 1/2 the speed of sound. His freefall is predicted to last about six minutes and 25 seconds. The team involved in Le Grand Saut is relying on a wide range of state-of-the-art technology: a specially manufactured, remote-controlled balloon; and an air-tight and ultra-low temperature space suit designed to withstand temperatures as low as minus 100C for as long as 10 minutes. The aim of the project, according to its Web site, is to simulate a full-scale rescue of a team of astronauts after reaching a critical high altitude. "Studies of the new questions posed by this world premiere event, such as the issue of how to protect the skydiver from the bang of breaking the sound barrier, have mobilized hitherto unknown scientific techniques," the organizers boast. What seems to be most worrisome for the team is the prospect of Mr. Fournier going into a spin at the beginning of his jump, which would make it virtually impossible to stop the rotation "because of the density of air at this altitude," said Henry Marotte, of the French Aerospace Medical Laboratory. "That is the most worrying scenario from the medical perspective," he added.
-
WHITEWRIGHT -- Two sky divers killed when their parachutes became intertwined in a twilight jump over Northeast Texas were veteran jumpers with more than 200 jumps each to their credit, officials with their skydiving club said today. Brad Walk of Dallas and Jason Fitzsimmons of Richardson were killed when their parachutes became entangled about 6,000 feet above the ground in the accident Saturday, according to a statement issued by Skydive Dallas. The accident happened about 50 miles northeast of Dallas near the Fannin-Grayson county line. The two jumped from a Cessna Caravan at about 13,500 feet and their parachutes appeared to open normally at 11,000 feet, the club statement said. However, as they arranged their equipment, they drifted together and got their shrouds tangled at about 6,000 feet, the club said. Both apparently were killed on impact with the ground, officials said. The statement said neither sky diver appeared to use their reserve chutes. "They were really well-liked in the skydiving community. Our thoughts and prayers are with their family and loved ones," said Joe Rekart, the general manager of the Whitewright-based club.
-
Marissa Partners, LLC and Aero Systems Engineering today announced their plan to open the world's most advanced design indoor skydiving facility. Located in scenic Lake Elsinore, the state-of-the-art complex will be the widest diameter commercial facility of its kind at 14 ft. and capable of producing wind speeds in excess of 150 mph. The Tunnel VS 1(TM) is a realistic skydiving simulation experience. Unlike some older technology wind tunnels that exist today, The Tunnel VS 1(TM) provides participants with the actual sensation of flying through the air just like a real skydive from a plane. "Our indoor skydiving facility will allow people of all ages to come in and experience the thrill of an actual skydive in a safe and controlled environment while also serving the training needs of recreational, professional and military skydivers throughout the world," said Bruce Federici, a managing partner for the firm. "Think of all of those people who would never jump out of a perfectly good airplane in order to skydive, but would love to experience first hand what it is like to be free to fly!" Indoor skydiving facilities have existed for some time for use by both the military and skydiving markets. Only recently have they begun to catch on as an affordable source of family recreation and entertainment. "The City of Lake Elsinore is a recreation and tourism oriented community that already has a strong tie to skydiving," said Marlene Best, assistant city manager. "A facility like this would be a great addition, and create synergy with the attractions already here," she added. Aero Systems Engineering Inc.'s President, Chuck Loux, said, "We are enthusiastic about this opportunity to work with Marissa Partners, LLC in providing this state-of-the-art wind tunnel." Aero Systems Engineering has more than 50 years of wind tunnel experience, including the successful Matos Military Freefall Training Facility, provided to the US Army at Fort Bragg, N.C. Aero Systems Engineering provides wind tunnels and jet engine test cells worldwide. Today's announcement is the first step in a new era for the entire skydiving industry and represents a major shift toward more family-based recreation. About Aero Systems Engineering ASE designs and supplies wind tunnels for testing in all speed regimes: low speed, subsonic, transonic, supersonic, and hypersonic. The company's primary wind tunnel business areas include turnkey projects (new facilities and facility upgrades), vertical wind tunnels/free fall simulators, automotive climatic wind tunnels, engine/rocket altitude test facilities, high temperature heaters, and design of all types of wind tunnels and associated systems and components. About Marissa Partners, LLC Marissa Partners is an investment holding company. The company's primary business is the development and operation of Vertical Wind Tunnels "The Tunnel VS 1(TM)" for recreational use. The company's focus is to create and market an exciting new form of recreational entertainment for the enjoyment of consumers and to provide a realistic skydiving simulator for skydiver training. CONTACT: Marissa Partners LLC Bruce Federici, 909/615-3052 [email protected] or Aero Systems Engineering Inc. Don Kamis, 651/227-7515 [email protected]
-
OTTAWA, Ill. - Authorities were investigating a death involving an Illinois skydiving club Monday after a 33-year-old Indiana man was killed over the weekend in the sixth fatal accident at the club in a little more than a year. Ronald Passmore Jr. of Butler, Ind., was jumping with Skydive Chicago on Sunday afternoon when he tried to land in a pond but struck the water too hard, LaSalle County Coroner Jody Bernard said. Several people pulled Passmore from the water, and he was taken to Ottawa Community Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The accident happened near Ottawa, which is about 70 miles southwest of Chicago. "His parachute was fully deployed; it was just a matter of a hard landing," Bernard said. She said Passmore was an expert skydiver who had made frequent jumps with Skydive Chicago. An autopsy was to be performed Monday including toxicology tests that will determine if Passmore had drugs or alcohol in his system. Results from those tests will be available in four to six weeks, Bernard said. The LaSalle County Sheriff's Department was investigating the death, the sixth fatality at Skydive Chicago since July 9, 2001. The last one occurred May 18 when 28-year-old Skydive Chicago instructor John Faulkner plunged to his death after his parachute failed to open. Sheriff Tom Templeton said interviews would be conducted with witnesses and other participants in the dive, and the Federal Aviation Administration would check Passmore's equipment. He said investigations into other deaths at Skydive Chicago turned up no criminal activity and were all ruled accidents. "I guess it's the peril of the sport," Templeton said. "It's an inherently dangerous sport." LaSalle County State's Attorney Joe Hettel echoed Templeton, adding that he found the deaths "disconcerting." "This is literally happening right outside my window. I see people jumping all the time," he said. "It's frustrating to have these things happening. ... (But) absent some changes in law there's nothing that can be done by law enforcement." Bernard said she wasn't alarmed by the string of recent deaths. The club is one of the nation's largest skydiving operations, with about 75,000 jumps a year. "I think you have to put it into perspective," Bernard said. "The percentages are actually very low when you put it all together." Skydive Chicago owner Roger Nelson did not return calls for comment Monday. The sport's sanctioning body, the U.S. Parachute Association, normally inquires about deaths and can withdraw its sanction of clubs and schools. The group's executive director was returning from a board meeting held over the weekend at Skydive Chicago and was unavailable to comment Monday. ~ Associated Press Incidents Forum
-
There was a huge amount of review work that went into the documentation changes to the Skydiver’s Information Manual and the new Instructional Rating Manual. There were over a dozen people including volunteers from the membership as well as S&T; committee members who had given written input into the documentation being proposed and coordinated by the Director of Safety and Training (Jim Crouch), the Director of Publications (Kevin Gibson), and the Executive Director (Chris Needels). Even with all of this input which was collated into the proposed documentation where appropriate or explained adequately as to why it was not necessary in some circumstances, there were still sufficient further review tasks that the Chairman of the Safety and Training Committee (Glenn Bangs) asked us to come to the Skydive Chicago facility a day early to help with the review process. By having that many eyes and minds meticulously go over the documentation, at the end of over 600 person hours of work prior to and during the meeting, the S&T; Committee was finally able to present a motion to the BOD that the documentation, once re-corrected and retyped would finally be ready for the BOD’s approval. The BOD members who were not on the committee did not take this task lightly as they kept checking in on the S&T; Committee throughout the meeting’s progress, offering their own views on some items. To give you an idea of the meticulous nature of the review process, one single section of the BSRs took up more than 1.5 hours of Committee and full BOD time. This was the section dealing with age limitations. Very serious discussions on legalities and protection of the organization’s assets being exposed to liability were held with several motions being proposed with varying degrees of legal phrasing being utilized. What finally came about was actually a very simple statement that Tandem jumping must be performed only by persons who are of the age of legal majority, but the fact that three states have that age as greater than eighteen weighed heavily on the minds of the BOD members. I am sure the manufacturers of the Tandem equipment will soon be involved with DZs in those states, letting them know of the legal position of the manufacturer and the DZ in those cases. Other statements of importance are that the age limitations of the non-Tandem jumpers would remain as previously stated in the BSRs, but the waiver authority of that section would be changed from non-waiverable to waiverable by the full BOD. In further trying to address some issues of minors below the age of 16 being jumpers already in existence, it was discovered that there was a By-Law that prevented any permission to waive that was in effect, thus for anything to even be attempted to change that, the item for the change must be on the BOD’s agenda prior to the meeting. As such, people who are less than 16 years of age are still not permitted to skydive according to the current USPA BSRs. There are other ramifications to that situation and if you want to go into if further, I suggest you consult with your regional director as to those particulars. Here are some other important issues to make note of: The USPA will endeavor to work with the PIA and equipment manufacturers to obtain data, which will support a position of extending the repack cycle of sport reserve parachutes to 180 days. There is, however, still some concern about what will happen to the equipment if it is mishandled such as by leaving it in a car trunk or some other hot climate area, which will contribute, to the degradation of components of the parachute system. All of this needs to be researched under scientifically controlled conditions to get factual answers that will either support the proposition or show that the proposition is not valid. No additional AFF course directors were appointed. The existing instructional rating holder, regardless of the fact that they are not rated in an AFF program, will be enabled to make Integrated Student Program category E and F jumps in addition to the already permitted category G and H jumps once a student is signed off by an instructor for self-supervision in freefall. This means that USPA Coach Rating holders have gotten additional jump category privileges as well as allowing USPA Tandem and Static Line or Instructor Assisted Deployment rating holders those same privileges (because the privileges of their ratings includes working with students signed off for self-supervision). So, if you are a Tandem Instructor certified by a manufacturer and have not yet obtained your USPA Tandem Instructor rating, get with the program and get that rating if you want to have those privileges. (Yes, an S&TA; could still waiver that for you, but it sure would be nice to have that as an “automatic” rather than a “waivered” item.) A detailed progress report was made by the Finance and Budget Committee showing us exactly where we were in relation to market performance benchmarks and what our projected costs and incomes are. Due to increased insurance costs (premiums constantly going up due to claims increases), it is necessary to recover some of those past and projected cost of operation increases by an increase in dues which will be very reasonable in amount and will be very properly announced in all media formats used by the USPA. Skydive Lake Wales’ Betty Kabeller made the winning bid presentation for the 2003 USPA Nationals competition.Congratulations Betty. There are no changes to the Group Membership Program that I know of to report on at this time. The next BOD meeting will be in the Jacksonville, FL area in the timeframe next to the PIA symposium. I don't have the exact dates listed with me at this time but it is in the February 2003 timeframe. The meeting after that will be in the Fredericksburg, VA area in July 2003, close to the proposed site of the future USPA HQ and History of Parachuting Museum (I hope I named that correctly). Speaking of those future facilities, it is important to report that the initial work on the design phase of the headquarters facility was presented at this BOD meeting and showed much thought process of numerous parties. I can't give you folks the details of the finances yet (that will probably come out in the BOD’s minutes), but I can report that if things go the way they are planned, there will be a prime five (5) acre site shared by both organizations with a huge visibility to I-95 in that area. Folks might want to think about getting some tax benefits by donating equipment and money to the museum such that it will become a very important representation of our industry. Bill Ottley (who heads the museum’s organization) will always be glad to help you figure out what to do with your spare cash and materials. There was a disciplinary action taken against a member, but those proceedings were (properly) in closed session and the results will become evident when the USPA publishes the meeting minutes. There are other items that may be of interest to competitors, but rather than erroneously reporting on those from memory (which will undoubtedly lead me to make errors because I didn't write those items down), I will encourage you to look for the meeting minutes on the USPA’s web site in the near future. I think that is plenty for you folks to digest at this time. Blue, Clear, and Moderate-Wind Skies! Mike Turoff USPA I/E, D-5957
-
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.
-
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
-
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
-
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.
-
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 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
-
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 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
-
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.
-
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.
-
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 ResponsibilitiesRecently 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.
-
Today, Sky Venture announced its acquisition of TunnelCamp.com and the construction of Sky Venture Arizona. Alan Metni, former Arizona Airspeed member and owner of TunnelCamp.com, will join Sky Venture as its CEO. Sky Venture also made public its immediate expansion into new markets with tunnels slated for construction in Southern California, New Jersey, Chicago and Texas. Sky Venture recently begun franchise operations in Malaysia and is building a tunnel in the UK for its military. The company has the capacity and financial ability to build multiple units simultaneously. Sky Venture Arizona - a second generation Vertical Wind Tunnel located just outside Phoenix - will be less than 20 minutes drive from Sky Harbor Airport and 45 minutes from Skydive Arizona. Site selection, financing and design are complete and the company has begun fabrication of the enormous steel superstructure and components. Sky Venture Arizona will reportedly be faster, smoother and quieter than previous Sky Venture tunnels and superior to any other known design. Sky Venture Arizona will produce 45% more horsepower than its Florida predecessor and will be optimized for the sport skydiving and military markets (as part of the expansion plan, the Florida tunnel will also undergo substantial upgrades). Sky Venture has filed for additional patents on many of the improvements. Bill Kitchen is the inventor of the Sky Venture Vertical Wind Tunnel and the majority owner of Sky Venture. Kitchen built Sky Venture Florida as a working prototype in 1997. Its unique design employs multiple ducted fans situated above the air column to provide a flying experience almost identical to free fall. The device has not only proved the concept but has been operating profitably for the last three years. Recently, teams and individuals of all skill levels have flooded Sky Venture with business. As a result, Sky Venture Florida is now running over-capacity, often booked weeks or months in advance. The upsurge in demand has prompted the large expansion program announced by the company today. The company recently completed the engineering and plans for a recirculating tunnel to be used in colder climates. Alan Metni is a former member and manager of the United States National Formation Skydiving Team, Arizona Airspeed, and the owner of TunnelCamp.com. TunnelCamp.com has both benefited from and contributed to Sky Venture's success. TunnelCamp.com has trained more than 350 skydivers of all experience levels at SkyVenture. Its popular training camps are generally sold out 45 to 60 days in advance. TunnelCamp.com has flown more than 900 hours at Sky Venture and is reportedly the largest single civilian purchaser of tunneltime in the world. TunnelCamp.com plans to offer training camps at Sky Venture Arizona and Sky Venture California in the latter part of 2002. For further information, please contact Bill Kitchen ([email protected]) or Alan Metni ([email protected], 480-283-2603).
-
For 12 months the story has been told in bare bones: skydiver Simon Moline's chute deploys prematurely as he's exiting the plane over the Nagambie drop zone, the chute wraps around the tail of the plane and he is tangled in it, the tail tears off and starts falling, pilot Barry Dawson screams at the skydivers still on board to get out while he tries to control the plane. He barely gets out himself before the plane drops nose-first into the ground. Tomorrow marks a year since Moline died, since people started calling Dawson a hero. Back then they were turning up at Dawson's door at all hours wanting him to tell the story. He told a bit of it, but wasn't happy with all the questions because he hadn't really worked out how he felt. Elated, even surprised, to be alive; hurt because his friend was dead - that's all he knew. Last week, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau released its investigation report on the accident. In short, Moline's reserve canopy was deployed prematurely (an extremely rare occurrence) when the pack holding the reserve canopy's pilot chute rubbed against the top of the Cessna Caravan's exit door. Dawson had decided to wait for the report to come out before telling his part of the story in detail. On Friday night, two people who had been on the plane that day were coming over for a few beers - and he figured that was a good time to get a lot of the talking done about that Sunday over Nagambie. "It was," he says, "a beautiful day. Blue sky, no clouds, virtually no wind. Maybe a southerly, five knots. Perfect for skydiving." He was out at the plane by 7.30am, doing his preliminary checks. Matt Drinkwater, one of the members of Simon Moline's formation team, helped Dawson with his checks. The team, practising for a competition, was going up on the day's first run, the first of eight. Dawson had known Moline for nearly 10 years. They began skydiving together about the same time at the Pakenham drop zone. "A good bloke. Very careful and very capable," says Dawson. Moline's formation team comprised Drinkwater, James Boyle and Kath Hoffman. Their regular cameraman wasn't there and a friend, Simon Chaberka, was filling in. In the Cessna Caravan, the skydivers sat in two rows, in safety harnesses bolted to the floor. On the team's eighth run, there were six other jumpers aboard, one a student. On the approach to the target area, at 14,000 feet, the maximum height skydivers can climb to without wearing supplementary oxygen, Dawson called: "One minute", the signal for everybody to put on their goggles. Soon after, Moline's team begin moving to the door, to get in position. The formation team then made a ring, with Boyle on the right of the doorway, facing out. Drinkwater and Moline were facing into the plane, bent over, with their backsides stuck out - and with Moline between Boyle and Drinkwater. Dawson couldn't see the team's exit positions. "All I know is I can feel them climbing out." At this point, another climber, Craig "Crash" Bennett came forward, to thank Dawson for the flight. There was a bang and the plane went into a nose-dive. It was Moline and his canopy hitting the left horizontal stabiliser on the tail assembly. "I didn't see it, but I heard it, and I felt it," says Dawson, "and I just knew that someone was over the tail. I didn't know it was Simon. I was just hoping they could get off, and trying to bring the aircraft up and level and from going down. We were still buffeting around." Dawson shouted for everybody to get out. Meanwhile, cameraman Chaberka was falling, with his eyes turned upward and locked on to Moline and the plane's tail. Chaberka saw the parachute canopy go past him and over the tail. He was a little below Moline as Moline was dragged from Boyle's and Drinkwater's hands by the chute. "I saw Simon's canopy get wrapped around the tail and then the tail twisting, 45 degrees to the right, before it snapped off. Simon was still hanging off the tail." According to the ATSB's investigation report, 11 seconds passed from Moline's impact with the tail section to the tail section tearing away from the rest of the plane, with Moline still tangled in it. In those 11 seconds, in a stable flying position known as "frog" or "box man" - flat to the ground with his arms arranged as if he was being mugged - Chaberka fell about 1000 feet. When the plane overtook him, he followed on, looking for sign of Dawson. "I hadn't seen Barry. All the way down I was calling, 'Get out, get out, get out.' " The plane was falling and spinning. Dawson was in trouble. He recalls: "There were still one or two people in the plane when the tail separated. I think one of them was spat out at that point. As the tail snapped off, the plane whaled on to its back and Crash (Craig Bennett) got pushed up against the windscreen. I was saying, 'Crash! Get the f--- out'. But Crash wasn't sure whether to step on the instruments and damage the plane. That's what appeared to be going through his mind. But he got his foot on the panel and I saw him go over the seats like Superman." Bennett left the plane at about 9000 feet. Meanwhile, Dawson had shut down the fuel pumps, the engine and, with one hand on the control column, calling "Mayday, mayday, mayday", he unbuckled his seatbelt and brought up his left leg to push off the instrument panel, as Bennett had done. But as soon as he let go of the controls, the plane started spinning, and Dawson's dash went nowhere: the G-forces slammed him face first to the floor, between the seats, breaking a rib. "As I hit the floor, I heard the door go 'bang', the sound it makes when it's dropped . . . I couldn't even raise my arm up and I was trying to push forward using my legs but then my boot got stuck, my right foot, stuck in the seat belt." Losing his new boot, Dawson hauled himself along the floor as if he was trying to climb a wall while glued to it, using the harness seatbelts as a hand grip. The plane was tilting about 45 degrees, then it would go vertical, then flatten out, then tilt again. "The G-forces would come on hard sometimes, and it was like when you're in a dream and you want to move and you can't lift your arm and I was just hanging off the harness belts until the Gs eased enough for me to lunge a little more toward the door." Reaching the door, with one hand on a harness for support, Dawson found he couldn't raise the roller door more than a few centimetres with only one hand. He needed two hands for a clean lift. Desperately, he thought of throwing his canopy out of the crack. "That way I'd have been dragged out, but I probably wouldn't have survived it." It was at this point, exhausted and frustrated, unable to see a way out, he thought of his daughter Crystal, only eight weeks old. "And I thought, 'There's no way I'm leaving my baby', and I just went sick." Suddenly, he found he could get his arm out to the crook of the elbow, giving him better purchase on the door. When he had worked it up to his shoulder, he turned over on to his back and squeezed his head out. The plane was still spinning, falling, gaining speed. He was giving birth to himself, pushing himself out. When he got so the door was on his waist, Dawson had a look around to see which way was up and gave a final heave. As he slipped out (at about 1000 feet, says the ATSB report) and rolled over, he saw the plane hit the ground and burst into flames. By the time he pulled the ripcord, he was at about 600 feet, a second and a half from death. After a perfect landing, Dawson saw Chaberka land and they met and hugged, with the plane burning behind them. Dawson was still thinking Moline was all right - hurt but alive. But then he and Chaberka watched him come down, tangled in the tail, in a paddock to the west. Soon after they heard he was dead. "The report says he probably died before he landed," says Dawso
-
Cape Town - Two Cessna aircraft and parachutes worth R6 million were destroyed in a suspected arson attack at Melkbosstrand near Cape Town on Tuesday morning, Western Cape police said. The fire started around 03:00 in a hanger at a parachute club said Superintendent Wicus Holtzhausen. "The hanger and everything inside it have been destroyed." The club is situated on Peter Dale's farm along the West Coast Road between Atlantis and Melkbosstrand some 20km from Cape Town. "Dale noticed the flames and alerted police," Hotzhausen said. "Details are still sketchy, but we suspect that it was arson," he said. "There is no electricity or any other power supply that could have caused the fire." A number of homeless people live in the dense vegetation along the West Coast Road in the immediate vicinity, but no witnesses have yet come forward. Equipment lost in the fire includes: 11 Vector Tandem Rigs 12 Student Rigs Cessna 206 Cessna 182 Video Equipment Private gear of more than 20 members. The whole hangarThe club is looking for donations or assistance in any form and specifically requests that you contact them if you have decent second hand Vector Tandem gear for decent prices. Please contact Peter Mauchan (Long Pete) at: [email protected] Skydive Cape Town www.skydivecapetown.za.net
-
Los Angeles - Dan Brodsky-Chenfeld remembers nothing about the airplane crash that nearly killed him, or the five weeks he lay in a coma afterward. What he does remember is that one of his best friends died on the skydiving plane that crashed 10 years ago last Monday. "It infuriates me," he says of the crash. "I'm still very good friends with his mother, with his sister. I see them and talk to them and it just kills me, that I had anything to do with it." In one of the worst accidents in skydiving history, the twin-engine de Havilland plunged to the ground during takeoff at Perris Valley Airport, killing the pilot and 15 skydivers. Brodsky-Chenfeld, 40, was among six survivors. He was coaching American and Dutch skydivers and had recruited some to come out to Southern California for training. Among the dead was his friend James Layne, whom he had taught to skydive in Ohio. Federal officials determined that contaminated fuel caused the right engine of the DHC-6-200 Twin Otter to lose power after takeoff. The pilot then made a mistake. The overloaded plane's right wing dipped and struck the ground. Witnesses said the craft bounced upright and then nose-dived, shearing off its nose and wings. Troy Widgery, 35, of Denver, recalls the aircraft was 300 feet in the air when it rolled over and he saw the ground out of the door. The crash knocked him out for several seconds. When he awoke, he found himself on top of bodies, fearful that the aircraft would catch fire. "I thought, well we lived through that and now it's gonna burn. Gotta get out of here. Everyone was either dead, dying or couldn't move." Widgery spent several days in the hospital with a broken hip, collarbone and other injuries. "I was jumping two months later. Once I could walk again, I was skydiving," he said. The skydiving school about 60 miles southeast of Los Angeles survived and has flourished, now handling about 10,000 student jumps a year. Pictures of the dead hang on the school walls, and there is a memorial park near the drop zone. On Monday, friends will gather there for skydiving and a barbecue. "It's an opportunity to be among people who truly understand our pain," said Melanie Conatser, co-owner of Perris Valley Skydiving. Brodsky-Chenfeld, of Chandler, Ariz., suffered a head injury, a broken neck, a collapsed lung and other internal injuries in the crash. He is "covered with scars" and still takes medication for back pain and other problems caused by his injuries. Yet he, too, was back to skydiving only months after the crash, following two major surgeries and with a brace around his neck. He has made 9,000 jumps since the crash, and started a championship skydiving team, Arizona Airspeed. "It's hard to ever consider a life that doesn't include that," he said. "It's really important that every day of your life you're doing something that really challenges you, something that you love to do." ~ Associated Press
