skydiving accident

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What It's Like to Fall 14K Feet and Live
What It's Like to
Fall 14K Feet
and Live
longform
Jul 21, 2024 6:50 AM CDT

What It's Like to Fall 14K Feet and Live

'The girl who fell from the sky' tells her story

(Newser) - In June 2013, Emma Carey and her lifelong best friend, Jemma Mrdak, were 20-year-olds traveling through Europe after graduating from their Australian high school. Part of the experience was tandem skydiving in Switzerland, jumping out of a helicopter 14,000 feet up with skydiving instructors strapped to their backs. Jemma'...

Pilot Who Decapitated Skydiver Is Found Guilty

French pilot has been banned for flying for one year

(Newser) - A French pilot who decapitated a skydiver with the wing of his plane in 2018 has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and banned from flying for one year. The unnamed pilot was handed a 12-month suspended sentence on Tuesday in connection with the death of Nicolas Galy, 40, who...

TikTok Influencer's First Skydive Ends in Tragedy

Tanya Pardazi, 21, died during jump outside Toronto last month

(Newser) - On Aug. 29, a statement from Skydive Toronto announced the death two days earlier of a 21-year-old skydiving student, citing "fatal injuries obtained from an emergency situation." It didn't identify the student, but now her name is out, and it's a fairly well-known one: Tanya Pardazi,...

They Tried to Swap Planes Midair. It Didn't Quite Work

FAA probing Sunday stunt in Arizona, which led to one plane crashing; both pilots are OK

(Newser) - Update: The Federal Aviation Administration has launched a probe into a failed stunt in the sky. Cousins Luke Aikins and Andy Farrington, daredevil Red Bull skydivers who'd hoped to swap Cessna single-seat airplanes in midair, didn't see their feat go as planned on Sunday: One of the pilots...

Vermont Farmer Finds a Needle in a Haystack

Though in this case, the needle is a prosthetic leg

(Newser) - A Vermont skydiver who lost his prosthetic leg during a jump has it back, thanks to a farmer who kept an eye out for it and spotted it in a soybean field. Double amputee Chris Marckres of Hyde Park went for a jump Saturday at Vermont Skydiving Adventures in West...

Teen's First Skydive Was Also Her Last

Jeanna Triplicata, instructor Nick Esposito die in Georgia

(Newser) - Jeanna Triplicata's parents and siblings gathered to see the 18-year-old complete her first skydive on Sunday. They then watched from the ground in Thomaston, Ga., as Triplicata and veteran skydive instructor Nick Esposito somersaulted in the sky, a parachute spinning wildly behind them. "Upon exiting the aircraft, the...

Skydiving Accident Takes Life of 28-Year-Old Woman

She hit a big rig on a highway

(Newser) - As a group of seven skydivers descended near California's Lodi Airport on Thursday afternoon, something went terribly wrong. A 28-year-old woman died after she was apparently blown off course amid windy conditions that affected her open parachute, reports the Washington Post . She hit a big rig on a highway...

British Tourist Dies in Grand Canyon Skydiving Accident

Pair 'encountered difficulties' during tandem jump

(Newser) - Another Grand Canyon tragedy: Authorities say a British tourist died in a skydiving accident near the canyon Sunday morning. Police say 55-year-old Christopher Swales was fatally injured after he and his skydiving partner, an instructor at a local skydiving center, "encountered difficulties" during a tandem jump, the BBC reports....

'I Don't Know How a Person Can Survive a Fall Like That'

Skydiver hurt but expected to live after chute doesn't open during 5,000-foot plummet

(Newser) - She fell nearly 5,000 feet to the ground from a plane during a skydiving jump after her parachute failed to open, but by some "miracle," a 30-year-old woman in Canada is still alive, with non-life-threatening injuries. "I don't know how a person can survive a...

Witnesses Saw Skydivers Try to Jump Before Deadly Crash

9 killed in Sweden accident

(Newser) - Investigators are trying to determine the cause of a plane crash that killed eight parachutists and their pilot in Sweden on Sunday. Witnesses say they heard a loud noise before the single-engine GippsAero GA8 Airvan plunged nose-down into Storstarskar island, the Local reports. Some witnesses say they saw skydivers try...

Skydiving Tragedy: 'He Hit the Roof Pretty Hard'

Unidentified man killed after crashing into home in Perris, Calif.

(Newser) - A skydiver was killed after he slammed into the roof of a California home Monday afternoon after it appeared his main parachute didn't open, KABC reports. "He hit the roof pretty hard," a witness says, adding that the unidentified man's orange emergency chute, which didn't...

Skydiving Santa, Elf on Shelf Crash-Land on Florida Beach

They slammed into tree and light pole during charity event, but both are OK

(Newser) - A skydiving Santa looking to make a grand entrance while taking an Elf on the Shelf to a 9-year-old girl crashed into a tree and light pole before hitting a Florida beach and breaking his leg, the AP reports. News outlets say George Krokus was dressed as Santa Claus during...

Soldier Tried to Kill Wife Twice, Nearly Succeeded: Prosecutors
Wife Plunged 4K Feet
After Hubby Allegedly
Messed With Chute
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Oct 8, 2017 12:50 PM CDT

Wife Plunged 4K Feet After Hubby Allegedly Messed With Chute

It wasn't the first time he tried to kill her, prosecutors allege

(Newser) - On a cloudy day in 2015, British army sergeant Emile Cilliers offered to take his wife skydiving as a treat. It turned out to be anything but. Victoria Cilliers, who'd previously taken part in 2,600 skydives, was helpless when both her main and reserve parachutes failed, sending her...

Skydiver Told Wife He Wasn't Going to Pull Cord

Costansa Litellini was 'moments too late' to save her husband

(Newser) - Costansa Litellini ran into Florida's Skydive DeLand on Tuesday begging them not to let her husband go up in a plane, the Orlando Sentinel reports. But the plane, with 27-year-old Capotorto Vitantonio inside, had already taken off. Vitantonio's body was found face down in a field a short...

Skydiver Makes Unexpected Landing in New Jersey

Rescue crews had to help skydiver out of tree

(Newser) - Rescue crews in New Jersey freed a skydiver who got stuck in a tree and was dangling 70 feet above the ground, the AP reports. Emergency crews in Gloucester County got a call around 5pm Tuesday saying the skydiver had crashed into the trees in Monroe Township. Per NJ.com...

She Survived 3.5K-Foot Fall, Just Won $760K Over It

Texas teen Makenzie Wethington says parachute malfunctioned

(Newser) - A Texas girl whose 16th birthday present almost killed her has been awarded $760,000—more than $200 for each of the approximately 3,500 feet she plunged after her parachute malfunctioned. Makenzie Wethington, now 19, suffered internal injuries as well as a broken pelvis, lumbar spine, and shoulder blade...

In Fatal Tandem Jump, an Issue With the Teacher

FAA is still investigating deaths of Yong Kwon, Tyler Turner

(Newser) - The director of an organization that certifies skydivers said Thursday that the instructor who led a tandem jump in Northern California that turned fatal didn't have the required advanced parachuting certificate, the AP reports. The Federal Aviation Administration requires tandem-jump instructors to receive training and a certificate from the...

Family Watched as 18-Year-Old Skydiver Plummeted to Death

Skydiving deaths are rare

(Newser) - One of the two skydivers who was killed in California on Saturday after a parachute didn't open during a tandem jump was an 18-year-old first-time jumper who had family members watching from the ground as he plummeted thousands of feet to his death, the AP reports. The other victim...

2 Skydivers Killed When Chutes Fail to Open

'It looks like ... something may have gone out of sequence'

(Newser) - Two skydivers were killed Saturday during a tandem jump in northern California, reports the AP . Their bodies were found in a Lodi-area vineyard after someone reported that the skydivers hit the ground without an open parachute, San Joaquin County Sheriff's Deputy Les Garcia said. It appeared the parachute did...

Skydiving Student Found Dead With 'No Harness'

'She came completely out of whatever and dropped to the ground'

(Newser) - Sheralynn Neff took part in at least five skydives over the weekend, so her last on Sunday should have been routine, reports the Hutchinson News . Instead, the 26-year-old's parachute landed without her. Crews in Cushing, Okla., searched for 16 hours before discovering the body of the Kansas woman—whom...

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