Perris Valley skydiver midair

[MikeD]

A longtime skydiving instructor was one of two parachutists who fell to their deaths Thursday after their parachutes collided over Perris Valley Airport.

Patrick McGowan had worked with Skydive Perris for almost two decades and oversaw parachuting activities at the airport.

The collision appears to have happened 300 to 400 feet above the ground, said the Riverside County Sheriff's Department in a news release. The parachutes collided, deflating both. Neither reinflated and the men fell.

Scott Smith, western regional director of the U.S. Parachute Association, said Smith was a veteran skydiver and instructor.

"He had over 17,000 jumps," Smith said.

Story here:

http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/PE_News_Local_D_chutefatal01.23c80b334.html

 

[mshunter]

I heard about this last night on the news. When I heard it was a skydive accident I immediatly thought of the Perris drop zone. It's VERY busy there. Just by the shear numbers of jumpers they have there, the law of averages puts them high on the list for an accident. Real bummer.

 

[vheissu]

Its been a rough start for them this year. They lost another about a month ago. RIP.

 

[ComplexHiAv8r]

RIP. I lost a co-op in the 90's to a similar accident in AL/FL.

 

[jrh]

Terrible. National Safety Day was a few weeks ago and a special focus was placed on canopy control / canopy collisions. Exactly what appears to have happened here.

Equipment failures are no longer the big danger in this sport. Safely getting to the ground under a functioning canopy is the most challenging part.

It's still early in the season and I've already heard about several fatalities nationwide.