Skydiver dies in midair collision with airplane

Billings Gazette ^ | April 25, 2005 | Associated Press

[BigSkyFreeper]

DELAND, Fla. - A skydiving cinematographer was killed after his legs were severed in a midair collision with the airplane he had jumped from, authorities said.

Albert "Gus" Wing III had already deployed his parachute Saturday when he struck the left wing of the DHC-6 Twin Otter propeller plane at about 600 feet, a witness on the ground told police.

Both of Wing's legs were severed at the knees, but he managed to maneuver his parachute and land near the DeLand Airport, about 40 miles north of Orlando, DeLand Police Cmdr. Randel Henderson said.

He was airlifted to a hospital, where he later died, Henderson said.

Fourteen other skydivers were in the air at the time of the accident, Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Holly Baker said. The plane landed safely.

The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board were investigating.

Authorities said they were not certain whether Wing had been filming at the time of the accident and no camera was found.

Wing owned a production company, Flying Wings Production, according to the Web site of the company that organized Saturday's jump, Skydive DeLand.

[Izzy Dunne]

Hold muh beer and watch THIS!

[Izzy Dunne]

How the heck do you hit the plane you jumped from?
Did the plane circle back and dive?

[ClearCase_guy]

Just a flesh wound. I've had worse!

[RexBeach]

Gus jumped out of an airplane at 600 feet? Wow. That seems mighty close to the ground. Perhaps beer was the culprit?

This Bud's for you...Gus. RIP. Er, no pun intended.

[Steve_Seattle]

"Albert "Gus" Wing III had already deployed his parachute Saturday when he struck the left wing of the DHC-6 Twin Otter propeller plane at about 600 feet, a witness on the ground told police."

It sounds like this happened well after he jumped (he was only at 600 feet when it happened). I'm not sure what the plane was doing way down at 600 feet; that's what I'd be investigating.

[Izzy Dunne]

they were not certain whether Wing had been filming at the time of the accident and no camera was found.

The pilot was saying:
"Here, Al ! You forgot your cam..... Oops."

[reagan_fanatic]

Albert "Gus" Wing III had already deployed his parachute Saturday when he struck the left wing of the DHC-6 Twin Otter propeller plane at about 600 feet, a witness on the ground told police

Collided with the plane he had jumped out of? Silly man must have had his parachute on backwards.

[Izzy Dunne]

Gus jumped out of an airplane at 600 feet?

Uhhh, read it again.

[RushCrush]

Strange and horrible- wonder what the pilot had to say....

[pa mom]

The plane landed safely.


Well, good. This could have been a disaster!

[HamiltonJay]

I don't care what anyone says, jumping out of a perfectly good airplane is just asking for natural selection to remove you from the gene pool.

[Monterrosa-24]

I've read two articles about this and both are poorly written and raise questions that are not addressed.

Apparently the plane hit him after flying into a whole group of descending skydivers.

[BigSkyFreeper]

Picture didn't come through, here is a link to it

[B4Ranch]

Never call the pilot an ahole just before you jump!

[BunnySlippers]

BTW, this is the second skydiving fatality that this aviation company has had this year!

[L.N. Smithee]

There are several puns in bad taste that spring to mind, but I can't relay any of them. I am just thinking of the terror of your legs being cut off WHILE you are freefalling thousands of feet in the air.

[avg_freeper]

I've often seen video of a stunt diver and a plane doing descending spirals around each other. Also depending on the plane, a "controlled" stall spin is the quickest way to descend. No margin for boo-boos.

I'm surprised a LE could sever legs, break them of course but severing them is surprising. Perhaps he hit pretty far outboard where the profile is sharper and on the outside wing of the spin where the relative velocity would be greater.