SFL-2022-003 · Cause: Landing – intentional low turn
Partially verified Facts as reported in the sources below. This is not an official investigation.
Incident
- Date
- 27.02.2022
- Country
- USA
- Drop zone
- Skydive City Zephyrhills
- Place
- Zephyrhills, Florida
- Context
- Student
- Jump type
- Tandem
- Role
- Tandem passenger
- Phase
- Approach & landing
Jumper
- Gender
- Male
- Age
- 52
- Total jumps
- 1
Cause
- Category
- Landing – intentional low turn
What happened
Tandem passenger on his first jump. The instructor (about 4,000 jumps) started a 270° turn at about 100 ft in light, variable winds; the pair hit the ground in a diving turn. The instructor was seriously injured.
Lessons for safety
No turns to final near the ground on tandems. A low, flat approach costs nothing; a low turn can kill.
Sources
- www.uspa.org Federation, USPA 2022 fatality summary, case #10 (anonymous)
Is something wrong or missing? Send a correction and mention SFL-2022-003.