Posted on 04/23/2005 7:42:41 PM PDT by Paleo Conservative
VOLUSIA COUNTY, Fla. -- A skydiver's legs were severed at the knees and he later died after he collided with an airplane over Volusia County.
A spokesperson for the Deland Police Department said the airplane was about 600 feet in the air Saturday morning when skydiver Albert "Guss" Wing III, of Longwood, collided with its left wing.
Both of Wing's legs were separated from his body at the knees, but he still managed to maneuver the parachute and land, police said.
The airplane landed safely and police investigators found damage to the plane's left wing.
The skydiver was treated by emergency personnel at the scene and was airlifted to Halifax Hospital where he died. The Volusia County Medical Examiner's Office and the FAA have been notified.
The aircraft has been identified as a fixed-wing, propeller-driven DHC-6 Twin Otter.
It looks like it may have been the same plane he jumped from.
The report says it was a DHC-6 Twin Otter and the skydive center, Skydive Deland, website lists that very plane as one of it's own.
I've watched the skydivers in Titusville, FL and the pilots of those planes really dive them hard and fast to get down to the ground and get ready for more skydivers.
Wow.
I will always remember one battalion mass tactical jump at night from C-141s. The plane behind us was LOWER then our plane .... not good .... lucky for me it missed as the Rangers jumping out of it 'walked' off my chute .... I won't forget that sight of a C-141 bearing down on me.
ping
"New York Post - a 200-pound woman plummeted seventeen stories from an
apartment window, crashed through the roof of a station wagon, and never
even lost consciousness.
"Her name was Victoria Lard."
http://www.angelfire.com/weird/nft/dtg24oct99.html
(((.)))
"You have to have an understanding of skydiving and general aviation."
Sorry, Advil, but what I understand is that I'm a lot like the skydiver's dog that Robin Williams talked about.
"Never skydive with your dog. It's kind of dangerous and it makes the dog scream."
Brand new way to cut corners for profit margins?
So who screwed up? was the skydiver coming down at the end of an active runway? Was the otter taking off or landing or what?
Our practice after a load of skydivers left the airplane was to retard power, close the cowl flaps and spiral down steeply. You could actually land the airplane before some of the jumpers touched down. Closing the cowl flaps retained cylinder head heat and avoided damage to the cylinder heads caused by rapid cooling.
The skydivers rented the airplane by the hour. It cost the jumpers a of money lugging them up to several thousand feet above the ground, so the best thing the pilot could do was to try to save time by accomplishing a quick descent as the last jumper exited.
The pilot who took the least amount of time per jump was preferred by the jumpers.
Yeah, the one time I went sky diving, the plane beat us back down to the ground. The thing was already parked on the runway ready for another flight.
I remember that! Northampton or Easthampton, right?
IRONY.
I'll bet -- especially the sight of the engines. You're certainly a braver man than me.
IIRC, the Otter is a high-wing aircraft. That certainly contributed to the accident.
Skydiver Dies After Striking Plane in Fla.
By Associated Press
April 24, 2005, 8:42 AM EDT
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.
I guess they need to place signs in the air like pedestrian crossing signs. How about a BIG yellow balloon with a black silhouette on it of a skydiver falling.</p>
"A skydiver's legs were severed at the knees and he later died after he collided with an airplane over Volusia County. "
Why would someone sever his legs at the knees, and then have him skydive?
Grammar is our friend!
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