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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.
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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
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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
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FORT BRAGG -- An Army pilot so skilled he could fly eight types of aircraft was remembered today by fellow members of the Golden Knights parachute exhibition team. Chief Warrant Officer Lowell Timmons, 45, died last week when the UV-20 single-engine turboprop he was flying near Tucson, Ariz., collided with a civilian skydiving plane. No one else was killed. About 300 people attended the service today at the main chapel at Fort Bragg, home of the Golden Knights and the Army's 18th Airborne Corps. At the front of the gathering, Timmons' dog tags and flight helmet hung on the butt of a M-16 rifle mounted vertically. On the floor beside it the rifle was a pair of empty jump boots. The display was backed by crossed United States and Golden Knights flags. The demonstration team's commanding officer, Lt. Col. David Liwang, said while some Americans find it difficult to learn to drive a stick-shift automobile, Timmons was proficient flying everything from helicopters to cargo planes. His 6,000 hours of flight experience was equivalent to flying nonstop for nearly nine months, Liwang said. "It's been my honor and my pleasure to serve with him," Maj. Trey Kelly, commander of the parachute team's pilots and crew members, said before stepping back from the podium and saluting. Chief Warrant Officer Ken Breeden, a fellow pilot, knew Timmons when they served together in Korea before joining the Golden Knights. Breeden said Timmons had a knack for instantly earning the respect of fellow fliers and parachute troops. Timmons was due for a promotion within a few months to become the aviator in charge of polishing the training of the team's instructor pilots, said Sgt. 1st Class Ken Kassens, a Golden Knights spokesman. The Army's Aviation Safety Center and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating the cause of last week's fatal crash. Four Golden Knights had made a practice jump shortly before the collision with a Cessna 182 carrying four civilian skydivers. The four civilians aboard the Cessna jumped afterward. Timmons, a 16-year veteran born in Fort Wayne, Ind., had served in Somalia, Turkey, Hungary, Bosnia, Germany and Korea. He is survived by his wife, Teresa, three daughters and three brothers. His funeral will be held Saturday at Richmond Hill, Ga., near Savannah.
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Moments after a jury cleared him of any wrongdoing in the death of a skydiver, Michael Hawkes stood on the front steps of the Foley Federal Building and pointed skyward at the Air Force Thunderbirds as they performed maneuvers. "Hey! They're celebrating our win," Hawkes yelled over to fellow defendant Joe Herbst. "That's pretty good." On Friday a Clark County civil jury ruled that Hawkes, the owner of Skydive Las Vegas, was not responsible for the May 1998 death of Vic Pappadato, an Emmy-award winning videographer and skydiver. They also found that Herbst, a former teacher who jumped that day with Pappadato, did not contribute to Pappadato's death. In fact, they awarded Herbst $1, saying Pappadato caused the midair collision that led to his death and seriously injured Herbst. The four-week trial was held in the Foley Federal Building to provide extra space. The parents and brother of Vic Pappadato had claimed that Hawkes had a history of violating safety rules and on the afternoon of May 10, 1998, allowed a group to dive even though some of them had been partying the previous evening. The family's attorney said those mistakes led to Pappadato's death. Hawkes and Herbst's attorneys told jurors that Pappadato deviated from a pre-arranged plan, and his mistakes led to his death. They also pointed out that Pappadato had signed a waiver releasing Skydive Las Vegas from any liability. "It's been a long four weeks since the trial began and a long four years since the accident," Hawkes said. "I'm just very happy the waiver stood out and was upheld. Everyone who jumps out of airplanes knows it is potentially dangerous. "There's been a lot of pain and suffering on both sides. I'm very sorry for the Pappadatos' loss, but this lawsuit should never have happened." In a written statement, Vince Pappadato, Vic's brother wrote: "We accept the jury's verdict, although we do not necessarily agree with the outcome. Sometimes the truth cannot always be proven. "This is just another bump in the road for us, and Vic Pappadato will never be forgotten for the champion he was in the sport that he loved so much, for the son and brother that he is, and for the man he became that everyone loved and misses dearly." Vince Pappadato said his family also wished for peace for the Herbst family. Herbst, who suffered internal injuries and broken bones in the accident, said he regretted having to file his counter-claim against Pappadato's estate. He said he went ahead with the lawsuit to clear his name. "I have no animosity toward the Pappadato family, that's why I only asked for a dollar," Herbst said. Herbst, who has made 1,000 dives since the accident, said the accident happened as the result of a few bad decisions made over a nine-second period. "Who hasn't made bad decisions?" Herbst said. "I had forgiven Vic before I hit the ground." ~ LAS VEGAS SUN
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The family of a famous skydiving videographer blames a Las Vegas company and another skydiver for his death, the family's attorney said in opening statements Thursday in the jury trial of a lawsuit. In the suit against Michael Hawkes, his company -- Skydive Las Vegas -- and local teacher and skydiver Joseph Herbst, the parents and brother of Vic Pappadato claim that Hawkes has a long history of violating safety rules and on the afternoon of May 10, 1998, allowed a group to dive even though some of them had been partying the previous evening. The family's attorney said those mistakes led to Pappadato's death. The plaintiffs' attorney, Frank Sabaitis, told jurors that Vic Pappadato, 33, agreed to videotape the dive for a friend, who was celebrating a birthday. Pappadato had more than 5,000 jumps to his credit. The group was supposed to jump from the plane, form a circle and then move away from each other as Pappadato taped the event, Sabaitis said. At least one of the members lacked the skills necessary to move into the circle and struck Pappadato, the attorney said. Pappadato continued the taping, but when it came time for him to deploy his parachute at 4,000 feet he could not. When Pappadato was forced to deploy his chute seconds later to avoid hitting a skydiver below him who was opening his own chute, the lines of Pappadato's chute became entangled, Sabaitis said. Before he could straighten the lines or deploy his alternate parachute Pappadato was struck by Herbst, Sabaitis said. He then fell to his death. Sabaitis said that although two of the divers later said they either smelled alcohol or had attended a party the night before, the others joined ranks and blamed Pappadato for the tragedy. Pappadato's video of the jump will show the other jumpers were at fault, Sabaitis said. "He was a compulsive safety nerd," Sabaitis said. "He was obsessive, and yet the defense is that Vic Pappadato made all of the mistakes that day." Greg Miles, who represents Hawkes, said many of the Pappadatos' witnesses are disgruntled former employees of Hawkes', and that his client had no reason to suspect anyone was intoxicated that day, he said. Herbst's attorney, Imanuel Arin, said the evidence will clearly show Pappadato deviated from the plan during the jump. Herbst was below Pappadato when Pappadato struck him, and the "low man always has the right of way." Jurors this week also are scheduled to hear a countersuit filed by Herbst against Pappadato. ~ LAS VEGAS SUN
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Almost exactly 20 years ago, Charles Bruce was crouched in the belly of a Hercules C-130 flying low over the south Atlantic, contemplating one of the most treacherous parachute jumps of his life. It was not merely that he was planning to leap into the surging southern ocean; even in perfect conditions the jump, which required pulling the ripcord at a mere 200 metres, was "a real bottle job". There was no guarantee the chutes would open before he and the rest of his British Special Air Service (SAS) squadron, of which he had been a member for one week, hit the water. The slipstream, he knew, was often so volatile on exit that people could flip over and lose their balance, and the low altitude would give them no time to recover. Despite being "the new boy", Bruce was by far the most experienced skydiver, having made several thousand jumps compared with the hundred or so of his colleagues, so his opinion was sought on the viability of the jump. "I don't believe in practising something you can only f--- up once," he said to grim nods. They decided to go for it. Last Tuesday, Bruce, known as Nish to his SAS colleagues and everyone else, made his last jump. He and his girlfriend had been in Spain taking part in a skydiving display, and were returning to Northamptonshire after a brief refuelling stop in France. Judith Haig, Nish's partner and an experienced skydiver, was flying their jointly owned plane. Nish was in the passenger seat. Exactly what happened next is unclear; even Haig may never be able to account accurately for her passenger's actions. But somewhere over Oxfordshire the plane got into difficulty, and Haig asked for permission to make an emergency landing, due to severe icing on the wings of the plane. Sixteen kilometres from the base she radioed again. Nish had apparently slid his seat right back and undone his seatbelt. Haig reached over to grab him, a source in the investigation said, but he pushed open the door of the aircraft without warning and tipped himself out headfirst, his weight pulling him beyond her desperate, screaming grasp. What leads a man like Nish Bruce, handsome, successful, well respected and well loved, to step into a winter sky and drop himself into oblivion? Bruce's elderly mother told reporters that she did not believe he had been depressed, but friends are not so sure, and if it does indeed prove that Nish took his own life, those who knew him cannot claim to be entirely surprised. Charles "Nish" Bruce was no stranger to demons. A former soldier in the SAS and member of the Red Devils parachute display team, he had seen sights, he later said, that "most people would not believe". "In the Falklands I saw dead men so deformed that their own mothers wouldn't recognise them - boys of 18 who had tried to slit their own throats because they had been so badly burned." In 1994 he had a complete breakdown, attempting to kill his then girlfriend. Bruce was born in 1956 into a comfortable, middle-class family. His father and grandfather were both military men, and growing up he was instilled with awe for military endeavour. He joined the Parachute Regiment at 17, and a year later, in Northern Ireland, saw his first dead body. A year after that he married, his son Jason following in 1978. In 1981 he joined the SAS, but while he made it through the gruelling training course that supposedly proved he could withstand extreme trauma, he found the process dehumanising. Seven years later he was discharged for "not being a team player". In 1994 the bubbling anxieties finally, violently, surfaced. After the breakdown, he would separate his life into "the time before I went mad" and everything else. In 1998 he wrote Freefall, a startling book about his military service and his breakdown, told with excoriating honesty. It is clear that his experiences in the special forces were never going to lead to an easy life after discharge. "We shouldn't be surprised by what happens when men experience what these men have experienced," says Bruce's friend and literary agent, Mark Lucas. "They are trained to survive in a landscape in which the dividing line between life and death is extremely thin." Bruce's 1998 autobiography now looks like vivid evidence of what some had already begun to call the curse of the SAS. In several of the pictures, Bruce is accompanied by a close friend, Frank Collins, another former special forces soldier. Now both men are dead; just as the book was being published Collins had gassed himself in his car, a well-thumbed copy of War and Peace at his feet. It is easy to conclude that Bruce, who was deeply affected by Collins's death, was a victim of the same post-career anticlimax. Certainly he was a thrill-seeker, climbing Everest after his discharge and becoming a professional skydiver. At the time of his breakdown he was training with the Russian space agency for an attempt to break the world altitude freefall record, leaping from 32 kilometres up on the very edge of space. Lucas believes the extremes to which he pushed his mind and body during the training may have contributed to his collapse, but says in Bruce's case it is too simplistic to conclude the SAS was inevitably to blame. Perhaps, the much-loved ancient pull of the sky to Bruce's troubled head became, at his end, just too much to resist. "Nothing else comes close to those first few seconds after leaving the plane," he wrote in his biography, "because once you take that last step there is no going back. A racing driver or a skier or a climber can pull over and stop, have a rest, but with parachuting, once you cross that threshold, you have to see it through." - Esther Addley in London for The Guardian
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A Mandatory Service Bulletin, SB-1221, has been issued and posted on the Precision Aerodynamics website. SB-1221 affects original configuration Raven Dash-M reserve canopies and P-124 Emergency parachute canopies that were produced before April 12, 1999. SB-1221 does not affect any canopies in the original Raven series, Super Raven series, Micro Raven series, or Raven Dash-M canopies produced after April 12, 1999. SB-1221 requires installation of one additional bartack at each of the 'A line' and 'B line' attachment points, for a total of 16 additional bartacks on the line attachment loops. The Raven Dash-M and P-124 series of reserve parachutes were tested within a range of 300-360 lbs at 180 knots and developed opening forces in the range of 2168 to 3660 lbs as measured in accordance with Aerospace Standard 8015A, the drop test standard for parachutes certified under FAA TSO C-23d. Since the introduction of the Dash-M Series in 1996, we have seen hundreds of documented saves throughout a wide variety of emergency situations. Reserve parachutes are generally designed, rigged, and packed to open more quickly than main parachutes, but until recently we had never seen canopy damage when used within the Maximum Operating Limitations of Weight and Speed. Within the past 30 days, we have witnessed 2 separate occasions wherein the integrity of the line attachment system of 2 different Dash-M canopies has been compromised during normal use by persons who are documented as having been within the Maximum Operating Limitations of Weight and Speed. In both cases, the jumpers reported exceptionally hard opening shocks resulting in canopy damage and hard landings. Damage to the referenced canopies was consistent with canopies having been tested to destruction when dropped beyond the limits of Maximum Operating Limitations of both Weight and Speed, while at the same time tumbling or otherwise presenting a non-symmetrical loading scenario to the deployment sequence. Exceptionally hard opening shocks generated by the subject canopies have prompted this Service Bulletin. Forces generated during opening shock resulted in a cataclysmic compromise of the line attachment system, with collateral damage extending upward generating torn canopy fabric and downward generating broken lines. The initial point of failure appeared to be similar in both cases, beginning in the region of the off-center A line attachment point. Subsequently, transient loading migrated outward and rearward affecting the integrity of some of the adjacent line attachment loops.The failure mode was in the destruction of the .75 x T-III MIL T-5038 line attachment loop tape, manifested by pulling the attachment loop tape away from the canopy but leaving the associated stitching intact (image 2). Compliance with this Service Bulletin enhances the line attachment structure of the original Dash-M and P-124 configuration and subsequent test data indicate that it increases the line attachment integrity by more than 100%. For compliance details, please download a copy of SB-1221 from the Precision Aerodynamics website at http://www.aerodynamics.com Precision Aerodynamics Download SB-1221 from Dropzone.com
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New Zealand - A 46-year-old skydiver died yesterday afternoon after crashing while completing a manoeuvre close to landing at an airfield near Hastings. The name of the man was not available, but he was understood to be one of a small visiting group. The crash happened towards the eastern end of the Bridge Pa Aerodrome runway, 10km west of Hastings. St John Ambulance operations manager Barry Howell said two crews went to the airfield just before midday and treated the man briefly, but he died soon afterwards. Hastings police Acting Senior Sergeant Greg Brown said early investigations indicated the man's parachute had opened properly and was operating normally. But the skydiver accelerated close to the ground and made a heavy landing, possibly as the result of an error. Police took statements from witnesses and were trying to contact the man's next of kin.
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Badly injured victims of a plane crash in Motueka this morning were conscious and reassuring each other when help arrived, according to the first rescuers on the scene. Ambulance staff said two of the six people on the Skydive Nelson Cessna 185 plane were in critical condition with head injuries. The others on board the plane were badly hurt. The 29-year-old aircraft lost power as it was taking off, and crashed deep inside a kiwifruit orchard on College St near Motueka airfield about 9.30am. It hit kiwifruit vines and slewed round 180 degrees as it struck. All the injured were taken to Nelson Hospital by helicopter or ambulance, with the first - a 35-year-old man with serious head and chest injuries - arriving at 10.19am. The second critically injured patient arrived 25 minutes later. Paramedic Hank Bader said the six people had suffered injuries including to the head and chest, and broken legs. Father and son Ian and Cliff Satherley were working on an orchard with Pip Hart when they heard the plane go down nearby. They raced over to the crash site. When they got there, they found people both outside and inside the badly wrecked plane, all conscious. They were "just lying there quietly, reassuring each other. What they were doing was really good", Cliff Satherley said. "All we did was reassure them, and make sure they were all breathing until emergency services arrived. Thank God there was no fire." St John volunteer Vickie Hovenden, a nearby resident, arrived and emergency services - called by neighbour Ron Ewers - were not long behind her. Fire engines, the Fire Service emergency vehicle and ambulances, quickly converged on the scene. Cordons were thrown up around the crash site, apparently amid fears that the aircraft's full fuel tanks could ignite. Emergency services put out calls for doctors and extra medical staff from Nelson and Wakefield. She said the plane had reached about treetop height when it appeared to lose power and plunged to the ground. Her husband Ron ran inside and phoned emergency services. "They responded really quickly. It only seemed like a couple of minutes and they were there." Mr Ewers witnessed the crash and said that the engine stopped as the plane was climbing. "They're always working a bit when they take off. This one stopped working. We knew it was in trouble, being that plane we know he doesn't cut the motor for fun." The plane did not get more than about 20 metres above the ground. "The nose went down, it did a twist and then started down." Senior Sergeant Grant Andrews of Motueka police said there were six people on the plane - a pilot, a video camera operator, two jumpmasters, and two passengers. The crashed plane was a mangled mess, with a wheel and undercarriage debris scattered around. "It's a miracle there are any survivors," Mr Andrews said. He said when emergency services arrived they had to cut some people out of the plane and some had been flung out. Stuart Bean, owner operator of Skydive Nelson, said the Cessna was bought two years ago and there had been no problems with it before. Weather conditions were perfect and there was nothing unusual about the operations, said Mr Bean, a pilot. Six people was a normal load for the aircraft. The plane was built in 1972 but was "not old for a Cessna", Mr Bean said. The 10-year-old company, which employs six people, has one other aircraft and has operated out of Motueka since September 1999. Previously it was in Nelson. Mr Bean declined to identify the people involved. A Transport Accident Investigation Commission investigator was on the way from Christchurch. Staff at the Skydive Nelson office were busy contacting relatives and friends of the people involved in the accident. Victim Support workers were on hand. Nelson Hospital was well-prepared and equipped to handle the injured in the crash, general manager Keith Rusholme said. Scheduled surgery was postponed in preparation for the arrival of the six patients, while all theatre, accident and emergency and intensive care unit staff were put on standby. "Initially we had a full staffing component. We put everything on maximum alert and then wind it down from there, depending on what happens," Mr Rusholme said. "In terms of numbers, this doesn't happen very often. But we're trained for this kind of thing." Patients due to be transferred from Christchurch to Nelson Hospital because of the nurses' strike, remained in Christchurch for the time being. Tasman Mayor John Hurley received news of the crash at a Tasman District Council meeting this morning and said his first thoughts were for the injured people. "It (the skydive operation) is a well-run organisation in my view, from the information we have on it. It's a very regrettable situation.
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Craig Chesworth was killed in an accident at Skydive Sebastian, located in Florida. After reading numerous incident reports with the ubiquitous and certainly ambiguous statement "the parachute failed to open fully", I decided to find out what type of malfunction he experienced. As a jumper, I find that articles written by the mainstream media often say that "the parachute failed to open", when it is often other causes which created the fatality. And as a jumper, I feel that one way to honor the deceased is to learn from their mistakes. So, this morning, I called and spoke with Mr. Mick Hall, the Safety and Training Advisor at Skydive Sebastian. Mr. Hall was gracious, accepting an unannounced call from me with no hesitation. He was forthcoming, and seemed as frustrated about the lack of media knowledge as I was. I found him eager, in fact, to make sure I understood the events, so that this article would be as complete and accurate as possible. It is thought that the following scenario is what occurred. Mr. Chesworth likely opened a little lower than he had intended to, but his parachute did open fully. His reserve was not used, as it was not needed. As a consequence of opening a little lower, Craig was long on his spot. As is drilled into a jumper's head, an "out" was spotted and chosen. Craig had chosen a good, grassy area, near homes, and was flying with the wind toward his out. According to one witness flying near him, Mr. Chesworth turned low to be into the wind, misjudged, and, while completing the turn, hit the roof of a building. "Did he turn so he wouldn't land downwind?" I asked "We can't know for sure, but we think that may have been a factor", agreed Mr. Hall. "I surmise that he may have felt a bit high, and, in trying to bleed off altitude so he wouldn't overshoot the grass area, he turned," said Mr. Hall. "As far as we can tell, that's what he was trying to do. Of course, no-one can tell what he was thinking at the time but we feel that he may have been worried about overshooting the out, and simply misjudged with no time to correct." Mr. Chesworth, 23 years old, was an intermediate level skydiver, with 200 successful jumps. The fatality occurred on his 201st jump. A visitor to Skydive Sebastian, Craig's home dropzone is located in Nottingham, England. This was his first time at Skydive Sebastian. It is reported that he held all regular BPA licenses available for his level. Mr. Chesworth weighed 150 pounds without gear, and was jumping a Fandango 135, with a Techno 146 Reserve. He did have a Cypres, and is thought to have had an RSL that was disconnected. The weather was clear, and considered "good". He leaves behind a young child. Our condolences are with him and his family. Blue skies, Mr. Chesworth, blue skies forever. ~ Written by Michele Lesser
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A Royal Navy skydiver died on his 500th jump in front of hundreds of spectators. The jump should have been an important milestone for Lieutenant David Paton. An inquest was told on Thursday that Lieutenant Paton was part of the Raiders Parachute Display Team when he landed heavily during a display in Portsmouth. The accident happened at HMS Excellent on 25 July this year. Tony Butler, a parachuting expert, told the inquest Lieutenant Paton could have been trying to perform a "spectacular swooping landing", but had not timed it correctly. He added: "Mr Paton might have thought he was going to hit a building and turned, but did not have sufficient height to land safely." Lieutenant Paton had jumped with five other members from a Sea King helicopter at 7,000 feet in perfect conditions. Everything had gone according to plan, with the Raiders linking up and then separating to land, the inquest in Portsmouth heard. However, as they landed in front of families at the show, the leader of the display Lieutenant Commander Phil Gibbs, who was first to land, looked back to see Lieutenant Paton. He told the South East Hampshire Coroners' Court: "I saw a parachutist making a very hard diving turn to the left and he ploughed into the ground at the edge of the arena. "I probably saw the last two seconds. It was all over very quickly. I knew that something was wrong and that someone was injured over there." Lieutenant Paton, who had just completed his second year of an engineering degree at Southampton University, was taken to hospital with multiple injuries, but died later. Mr Butler, a technical officer with the British Parachute Association, said it was not possible to say exactly why Lieutenant Paton had hit the ground so hard, as his parachute was not faulty. Deputy coroner Peter Latham recorded a verdict of accidental death. ~ BBC
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DAYTON TOWNSHIP. The third skydiver to die in eight days at Skydive Chicago in Dayton Township was killed Sunday afternoon. Bruce A. Greig, 38, of Jacksonville fell to earth at about 12:46 p.m. when witnesses reported his parachute failed to properly deploy, according to La Salle County Coroner Jody Bernard. Greig landed on Skydive Chicago property south of the hangar. He was taken by ambulance to Community Hospital of Ottawa, where he was pronounced dead at 1:30 p.m. An autopsy was scheduled for today and the Federal Aviation Administration was notified. Greig was an experienced jumper, according to his father, Curt Greig, of Jacksonville. "He loved skydiving and talked about it all the time", Curt Greig said in a subdued voice. He was there (Chicago Skydive) every weekend and loved that group (fellow parachutists) up there. Curt Greig said his son was a friend of Deborah Luhmann and Steven Smith, who died Oct. 6 in a skydiving mishap at Chicago Skydive and attended their funerals last week. Bruce Greig was a program installer with AGI based in Melrose Park.
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An experienced skydiver died when he fractured his skull in a mid-air collision with one of his best friends, an inquest heard on Tuesday. Robert Monk, 39, from Bedminster in Bristol, was on holiday with two friends at a Spanish parachuting centre when the accident happened on 28 July. Mr Monk's friend, Elliot Borthwick, also 39 and from Bristol, told the inquest at Bristol coroner's court that the three had skydived together many times and were planning to jump in a "sit-up" formation, with their legs linked as they were free-falling. At the last moment before jumping out of the plane, they decided to open their parachutes earlier than usual, but Mr Monk apparently forgot about the change of plan. When the other two opened their parachutes, Mr Monk remained in free-fall at a speed of 130mph and crashed into his friend John Carew's leg, fracturing his skull. "We were smiling and laughing and having fun," Mr Borthwick recalled. "When we separated I flipped over and opened my chute. I looked under me and saw Rob and John [Carew] still linked together." He saw Mr Carew jettison his parachute and use his reserve parachute, but he could not see Mr Monk. "Because we were so far from the drop zone, when it came to break away at 6,000ft, I think Rob reverted to our old thing of coming back together after we had broken off," said Mr Borthwick. He thought that Mr Carew was unaware that his friend had flown back towards him, and as he opened his parachute his leg collided with Mr Monk's head. Rescuers found Mr Monk's body near Castello de Cempurias, about 30 miles from Gerona in north-east Spain. Two hours after the accident Mr Carew, 35, from Birmingham, was found unconscious in a field of maize. He awoke in hospital to find surgeons had had to amputate part of his leg. Mr Carew spent a week in a Spanish hospital before returning to Birmingham. The fatal jump was the group's final one on their holiday in Emporia Brava, one of Europe's biggest skydiving locations. The Avon and District coroner, Paul Forrest, recorded a verdict of accidental death. "There was a mid-air collision which resulted in the deceased free-falling to his death. He received a fracture of the cranium, as was certified in Spain," he ruled.
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DAYTON TOWNSHIP. Two people, including an Ottawa woman, plunged to their deaths Saturday morning in a skydiving mishap north of Ottawa. Deborah Luhmann, 27, of Ottawa, formerly of Lake in the Hills, and Steven Smith, 44, of Ohio, Ill., were pronounced dead at 10 a.m. Saturday in the emergency room at Community Hospital of Ottawa, said La Salle County Coroner Jody Bernard. Bernard said witnesses reported Luhmann's and Smith's parachutes became entangled about 75 to 100 feet above the ground, causing the chutes to deflate. Luhmann and Smith landed on Skydive Chicago property, north of the hangar. The two victims were were part of a 20-person team practicing for a national competition to be held in a few weeks. Local weather conditions Saturday were sunny, temperatures were in the mid-50s and winds were up to 20 mph. Autopsies were performed Sunday, but the results will not be available for some time. The La Salle County Sheriff's Department is investigating the incident. Luhmann was an experienced, certified skydiver with 200 jumps, according to her brother, Paul Luhmann, of Chicago. She started skydiving last year and usually jumped every weekend. "It was a very freak thing," Paul Luhmann said. "My sister was very responsible. Skydiving wasn't a stupid thrill for her. Strangely enough, for a skydiver she wasn't a risk taker. She was very responsible and logical." Luhmann was engaged to marry Donovan Bartlett, of Ottawa, formerly of Barrington, on June 22, 2002. She worked as a systems program manager for Hewitt Associates in Lincolnshire. Skydiving was the latest manifestation of Luhmann's passion for athletics, according to her brother. She was an All-America swimmer at Denison University in Ohio and later a swimming coach for the Palatine Park District. Paul Luhmann said that although his sister's time was cut short, she packed a lot of experiences into her life. "She had so much ahead of her, but had already lived so much." With the deaths of Luhmann and Smith, 10 people have died in accidents at Skydive Chicago since the facility opened near Ottawa in 1993. The most recent previous victim was a Pennsylvania woman who was killed July 9 when her chute failed to inflate.
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The double tragedy of two experienced skydivers plunging to their deaths in separate accidents has failed to deter hundreds of other thrill seekers taking to Sydney's skies. Brendan Cook, 34, from Griffith in Canberra, and Jethro Thornton, 24, from Ermington in Sydney's west, died yesterday after their parachutes failed at the Sydney Skydiving Centre in Picton, on the city's southwestern outskirts. Jumps were suspended yesterday, but Sydney Skydiving Centre owner Phil Onis said it was business as usual today with about 400 people expected to jump. "The investigation is still underway ... (however) we are operating as per usual ... (with about) 400 jumps per day," he said. Police and paramedics were called to the centre yesterday when the first man fell to the ground sustaining critical injuries. Then, to their horror, a second man fell to his death as they watched. The first accident was about 11am (AEST) when Mr Cook's parachute failed. He had notched up hundreds of jumps and held an international skydiving licence. He later died in Liverpool Hospital. Three hours later, the equally experienced Mr Thornton fell to his death when his parachute failed to open. There had not been a fatality at the centre for 15 years and staff were still in shock, Mr Onis said. Police were still gathering evidence for a coronial inquest into the deaths, a police spokeswoman said. Australian Parachute Federation NSW safety officer Leigh Shepherd said skydiving centres observe strict safety measures. "The extremes we go to for safety are very high," Mr Shepherd said. "Obviously, two incidents have now happened but until that's investigated we can't say why. "My understanding is there's nothing the drop zone could have done to supervise it any closer or prevent it." He said there was a 0.03 per cent chance of being injured during a solo jump and even less probability in a tandem jump. There has not been a skydiving fatality in NSW for two years. "I'm still confident that the most dangerous thing we do each weekend is drive to the drop zone rather than the actual skydiving," Mr Shepherd said. "I'd still encourage people to come and try and when you try tandem, it's still the safest way to do it." It is standard practice for skydivers to sign an indemnity form acknowledging they risk serious injury or even death when they skydive. Westpac Lifesaver Helicopter which airlifted Mr Cook to Liverpool Hospital, said it has airlifted three patients involved in serious skydiving incidents since March.
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Beiseker, Alta. Witnesses looked on in horror as a skydiver plunged to his death in a parachuting accident Saturday night during his first-ever jump. "We saw the parachute spiralling down and then we hear a loud pop," said a 19-year-old witness, who also had just finished his first jump at the Skydive Ranch, which operates out of the Beiseker airport, about 50 kilometres northeast of Calgary. "It's something you don't want to see on your first time out." An air ambulance was called to the scene about 7:40 p.m. but declared the man dead on arrival. RCMP Constable Wayne Greaves said there was no initial indication of equipment failure. He also said it wasn't confirmed whether the man actually died from the impact, and that there will be an autopsy. Jim Mercier, tandem instructor with the Skydive Ranch, said the man hit the ground hard at the end of a jump in which he opened his parachute with no problem. But during the last part of his dive, he began a "hook turn," said Mr. Mercier, who witnessed the accident while acting as a radio controller on the ground. "In the last 100 feet, he did a 500-degree turn," Mr. Mercier said. "A hook turn is when you pull down on the toggle and spin vigorously around." But another witness who asked not to be identified said the man seemed to be spiralling close to a one-storey airport building on the ground. "It looked like he was going to smoke that building," said the witness, adding that he looked like he was turning to try to avoid a collision. In July, 1998, first-time skydiver Nadia Kanji, 18, died at Beiseker when she abandoned her main parachute and activated her reserve chute too late. Last September, Jean-Guy Meilleur, 30, died after he attempted a hook-turn landing at a Calgary Parachute Club event near Drumheller, Alta. The Skydive Ranch has adopted improved safety regulations since the high-profile death of a Calgary man at the site eight years ago. Kerry Pringle, a 29-year-old accountant, plunged to his death on his first parachute jump in August, 1993. A lengthy fatality inquiry into his death assigned no blame to what was then called the Calgary Skydive Centre for the tragedy. But a series of recommendations were made by a Calgary provincial court judge including leaving a larger margin of safety when setting automatic activation devices on parachutes.
