Fla. skydiver strikes plane, dies of injuries

prostock19

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This is messed up...and look at the guy's last name, too.

Fla. skydiver strikes plane, dies of injuries
Man lost legs in accident but still managed to land
The Associated Press
Updated: 2:48 a.m. ET April 24, 2005

DELAND, Fla. - A man who was skydiving in central Florida struck the wing of a plane as he descended over an airport, losing both his legs in the accident. The man later died, officials said.

Albert Wing III hit the airplane that he jumped from Saturday morning, police Cmdr. Randel Henderson said. Police said the victim had opened his parachute when he struck the left wing at about 600 feet. His legs were severed at the knees, but he managed to land near an airport.

Wing was taken to a hospital, where he later died, Henderson said. The plane landed safely. DeLand is about 40 miles north of Orlando.

Fourteen other skydivers were in the air at the time of the accident, Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Holly Baker said. The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board were investigating.

Skydive DeLand, which organized the jump, said Saturday’s accident was not common. The death was the second involving the company this year.
© 2005 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

© 2005 MSNBC.com

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7616142/
 
Awful! :(

That must have been a terrible sight for the other jumpers and pilot. What nightmares!
 
:-o Ouch!!! That is really sad. I bet if i show my Mother-In-Law this thread she will pay for me to get lessons. Then Piant a target on the ground. In the center of the bullseye it will say "Now I don't have to have sex with Bigfoot & have it's baby too live in your house"...
 
600 feet? They let him jump with the plane too low and in a turn! Idjuts!
 
Codger said:
600 feet? They let him jump with the plane too low and in a turn! Idjuts!

I'm trying to determine if he struck the plane right when he jumped, or if he was already airborn when him and the plane collided. Here is a photo of the type of plane he was jumping from:

83556main_fs009fig3.jpg


sw03t1.jpg


I *believe* they would be jumping out of the rear door shown in the second photo (notice the other side of plane doesn't have the door). This door is located well behind the wing.

I'm assuming everyone had already jumped and deployed their chutes...and then later on, the plane flew through skydivers striking one. Thats the only way I could see his legs being severed by a wing.

I've checked the NTSB database and they haven't filed the preliminary report on this yet.
 
Uh oh... looks like Albert Wing III got "winged"! *snickers*

Sorry, I know it's rude... but I couldn't resist.

Anyway, poor guy.
 
Hmmm....two deaths just this year with this company....No I dont believe that I will be jumping with them any time soon.
 
Don't mean to revive this thread, but the NTSB has released a preliminary report in its investigation. Everyone had already jumped long before the the collision. The plane was setting up for its downwind approach to land when it struck one of the chutists:

NTSB Identification: MIA05LA096
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Saturday, April 23, 2005 in Deland, FL
Aircraft: de Havilland DHC-6, registration: N24HV
Injuries: 1 Fatal, 1 Uninjured.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed.

On April 23, 2005, about 0915 eastern daylight time, a de Havilland DHC-6, N24HV, registered to Vertical Air Inc. and operated by Skydive Deland, Inc., as a Title 14 CFR Part 91 parachute operation, struck a cinematographer parachutist during a downwind approach to the landing runway at the Deland Municipal-Sidney H Taylor Field, Deland, Florida. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed and the flight was coordinated with FAA Daytona Beach Approach. The pilot reported no injuries and the cinematographer parachutist received fatal injuries. The airplane incurred substantial damage to the left wing. The flight originated from the same airport earlier that day, about 0855.

According to witnesses, the airplane was about 13,500 feet above ground level (agl), when 14 parachutists were released for the skydive over the Deland airport. Several witnesses stated they saw the cinematographer parachutist descending toward the center of the field and was at about 600 feet agl when the airplane, which was on a left downwind approach for runway 30, collided with him. Another witness stated he heard a loud sound and looked to see a parachutist canopy deflating, and the accident airplane heading in a south-southeast direction, about an attitude of 400 to 500 feet agl and 3/4 mile from and parallel to the landing runway. He saw the canopy reinflate and could see the parachutist had been struck by the airplane. The cinematographer parachutist descended between the hangars and runway before landing.
 
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