Wife and son watch parachuting dream end tragically...

DJ...

DJ...

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http://www.iol.co.za/dailynews/news/wife-and-son-watch-parachuting-dream-end-tragically-1.1295760

Gareth was a good friend of mine and my family. What makes this tragedy even worse was that his son jumped after him, not knowing that his dad had died, and was tweeting all the while. This poor family have been through so much loss over the last few years it really breaks my heart to see it happen all over again.

RIP Gareth. :(

A Westville businessman’s dream of adding parachuting to his bucket list ended in tragedy when he apparently suffered a heart attack and died, minutes after attempting his first solo static line jump.

Gareth Vaughn’s wife and son watched in horror as he plunged to his death at Orange Farm in Eston on Sunday.

Police spokesman, Lieutenant Joey Jeevan, confirmed that this was Vaughn’s first solo jump.

“He jumped from the aircraft and managed to open his parachute. During this time he was getting step-by-step instructions from his trainer.

“But minutes into the jump he experienced difficulty.”

Jeevan said Vaughn deviated from his original landing site and fell off course, crashing into a boundary wall. He died before medics could get to him.

Skydiver Vernon Kloppers, who was the instructor on duty at the Durban Skydive Centre, said Vaughn had joined the training programme and this was his first solo static line jump.

“He jumped at 3 500 feet and his parachute automatically opened through the static line. He was seen controlling the parachute until about 1 500 feet. At this point, he became unresponsive under the canopy. We do not know what happened.”

Vaughn’s close friend, Paul Raglan-Smith, said parachuting had been on Vaughn’s bucket list for many years.

“Yesterday (Sunday) was Mother’s Day and he decided the time was right to make his dream come true. Unfortunately, it ended tragically.”

Vaughn’s body was taken to the Hillcrest Hospital.

“Doctors at the hospital said they suspected he suffered a massive heart attack soon after he jumped.”

He said Vaughn’s family were battling to come to terms with his death and his wife and son were in a state of shock.
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Fudzy said:
Hectic! Were there any previous indications of heart problems?
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Not as far as I know of. The last time I saw him he was looking fit and healthy - definitely not a heart attack candidate...
 
shame this is sad, but thats why i have my theory of why jump out of a perfectly working airplane. Guess its your own choice to do it but i would probably also suffer from a heart attack if it was me. Sorry for the loss.
 
Sad to hear. They were in good hands with Vernon Kloppers though, the guy is well know in SA and has a good rep.

Unfortunately being fit as a fiddle and seemingly in good health is no guarantee against heart attacks.
 
Maybe it's time that sky divers need to obtain a class 4 medical before being allowed to jump solo?
If powered paraglider and glider pilots need to pass a medical then surely a 100kg+ object falling at 200km/h should also need a valid medical certificate.

I'm glad I didn't happen to be the obstruction on the ground that stopped his fall.
Such an unfortunate accident.
 
Sorry, but what are they doing parachuting over walls and solid objects??
 
Paul_S said:
Maybe it's time that sky divers need to obtain a class 4 medical before being allowed to jump solo?
If powered paraglider and glider pilots need to pass a medical then surely a 100kg+ object falling at 200km/h should also need a valid medical certificate.

I'm glad I didn't happen to be the obstruction on the ground that stopped his fall.
Such an unfortunate accident.
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Pilots do a medical to safeguard their passengers.

At the very least, a parachute club should ask for a recent checkup from a GP.

They should also undertake a first jump very far away from anything that can hurt them. 3000ft (+/- 1km) high and then calculate wind and drift away from drop zone.
 
Lounger said:
Pilots do a medical to safeguard their passengers.

At the very least, a parachute club should ask for a recent checkup from a GP.

They should also undertake a first jump very far away from anything that can hurt them. 3000ft (+/- 1km) high and then calculate wind and drift away from drop zone.
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The lines tangled as well, from what I hear. I don't think landing on grass would have made any difference.

Regardless, it doesn't matter now...

EDIT: I know moving forward safety has to come first and so it is important. Ah well...
 
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