Posted on 06/22/2008 11:51:36 AM PDT by BenLurkin
LAKE ELSINORE, Calif. An investigation continued Sunday into the death of a 39-year-old parachuting instructor and off-duty deputy sheriff who died when his parachute failed to open Saturday morning near Lake Elsinore.
Richard Alvin Schindler, a deputy sheriff with the South-West Detention Center and a part-time instructor at Skydive Lake Elsinore, was discovered around noon at 20701 Cereal St., according to the Riverside County Sheriff's Department
Sheriff's officials say deputies responded to a report of an accident at Sky Dive of Lake Elsinore Inc. late Saturday morning.
Schindler was executing his fourth jump of the day when his primary parachute failed to deploy properly and was subsequently released from his body harness.
Schindler's back-up parachute also apparently failed to open.
The victim died at the scene.
There is no such thing as gravity, the earth sucks.
When you think about it, a quick out is a good way to go.
RIP, Deputy Schindler ....
I wonder if both chutes failed or if there was simply not enough time for the reserve to open.
I’ll say it again; They don’t make an airplane big enough to hold all the people it would take to throw me out of it.
My brother was in 82nd Airborne in WW-II. One of their marching songs, to the tune of The Battle Hymn of the Republic, went like this ...
“They picked him up still in his chute and poured him from his boots; Oh he ain’t gonna jump no more.”
"Schindler's back-up parachute also apparently failed to open." Hard to say from the info given, but I know what you mean, I once saw a guy bounce, he had trouble operating his capewells due to the heavy gloves he was wearing...near zero degrees that day. He finally cut away and his reserve was just about to inflate when the ground suddenly appeared.
I didn’t find out till years later, but one skydive operation I had jumped at was “credited” with 13 deaths over a period of 20 or so years. Last I heard they were out of business.
LOL! My thought exactly. Why would I leave an aircraft that's in good flying order.
A successful cut-away from the primary...but the water below was way too shallow as it turned out...luckily the chest mounted reserve prevented me from entering the water in a standing position and I was able to walk away...the luckiest moment of my jumping career.
Because its fun and relatively safe compared to many other sports people do? I would wager that the rate of deaths from flying in general aviation aircraft is probably higher than skydiving. That alone is good enough reason to bail out.
BTW I am not a skydiver, but do think it is one of the coolest sports available to us.
I'm with you. The more firma, the less terra. Terra Firma is good.
/johnny
I'm staying here.
/johnny
/johnny
You may have a point...but we adrenaline junkies have to get our fix somehow. Old adrenaline junkies are underrepresented at the old folks homes.
Go figure. If that pic was of me.... there would be a large brown mass about 20ft below.
I'm glad you guys exist. Please don't include me. ;)
I'm supposed to die in my sleep and let the catz find me.
/johnny
I want to die peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather...not yelling and screaming like the other people in the car he was driving at the time.
I agree, very small odds. Not having enough time to get a good reserve canopy is not entirely uncommon in these circumstances, particularly if time is spent messing with the main.
It only has to happen once.
I don't mind dying (too much). I don't mind dying for my country, or family, or a random kid on the street.... What I mind is deciding to jump out of a functional aircraft.
I can waste my life in a much more creative way.
/johnny
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