Posted on 06/20/2015 4:48:43 PM PDT by naturalman1975
wo Army parachutists who collided during an air show yesterday laughed off their brush with death as 'a giggle' and insisted neither of them was frightened.
But last night the Ministry of Defence and British Parachuting Association launched inquiries into how two such experienced Red Devils crashed in a routine descent.
The accident is the first of its kind suffered by the team for 25 years. Corporals Wayne Shorthouse, 32, and Mike French, 34, faced disaster as they attempted a stacking display at Whitehaven Air Show.
It ended with Cpl Shorthouse wrapping his legs in the ropes of his colleague's deflated parachute and guiding him to the safety of the town's harbour.
Cpl French said: 'We were giggling as we hit the water, and then we just paddled to the side and went off for pie and peas and a pint together.
'I don't think either of us was frightened at the time, we just focused on the job in hand. Afterwards we realised it could have been a lot worse'.
Cpl French, from Cumbria, said he owes his colleague 'a pint of beer' for helping him out because 'my parachute wasn't too clever'.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
That better be good beer, Corporal. None of the light stuff.
This just happened last night. Today, not even a full 24 hours later, the paratroopers are expected to sit around joking about it?
Back in the early 80s, the BBC was doing a multi-part series on the selection, training and service of members of the British Airborne Regiment. The candidates they were following were in training when things heated up in the Falklands, and their training was accelerated, but the conflict ended before they were deployed. Some were sent to Northern Ireland and some posted in England. A year later they followed up with them, and one of the individuals who had some rough patches in the early training, and as very apprehensive about jumping had ended up being selected for the Red Devils (The British Army sport parachute team - equivalent of the US Army’s Golden Knights).
Paratroopers make jokes about jump incidents.
With over 250 static line jumps before I retired with 21 years service I’ve told a few myself.
FWIW - Aviation has a perfect safety record. We haven't left one of them up there yet.
"Ceterum censeo 0bama esse delendam."
Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)
It ain’t the fall that hurts - it’s the sudden stop.
A comfort pallet, never empty coffee pot and a crew chief passing out hot TV meals - makes flying as cargo almost normal.
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