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Subscribe to RSSA skydiver in New Zealand suffered serious injuries Thursday when he plunged toward the ground after the steering on his main parachute failed, forcing him to "cut away" and turn to his reserve parachute, which only partially worked, police said.
The 35-year-old man, whose furious descent was only slowed when his reserve chute finally opened 750 feet above the ground, landed so hard that he bounced, The Associated Press reported.
"He came down fast and hit the ground full blast,'' the New Zealand news website Stuff.co.nz quoted a witness as saying.
The man, who was not named, was hospitalized with multiple injuries, including to his back, after the incident at the Motueka aerodrome on the country's South Island, Detective John Nicholls of the Motueka Police said in a statement.
He was being treated in the nearby city of Nelson, the statement said. His injuries were not believed to be life threatening.
Seasoned skydiver
The injured man is a skydiving veteran, with more than 1,000 dives to his credit, the Otago (Dunedin, New Zealand) Daily Times reported.
From 2007: Man survives 2-mile fall in skydiving miracle
He had jumped from 13,000 feet and deployed his main parachute at 4,000 feet, Stuart Bean, the owner of Skydive Abel Tasman, told Stuff.co.nz.
Bean told the Daily Times that the man's main parachute failed to work properly due to a "steering fault."
The man's initial freefall was "uneventful," Bean said. But when his parachute opened he was unable to steer it, forcing him to "cut away" and turn to his reserve chute, he told the newspaper.
Skydiver, 81, who survived mishap: 'Knitting is boring'
The reserve parachute only opened 750 feet above the ground, causing the man to land heavily, Bean told the Daily Times.
The skydiver was "going faster than you would like" when he hit the ground, Bean told Stuff.co.nz. Reports said the man remained conscious throughout the ordeal.
Eighty-one-year-old Laverne Everett tells TODAY's Matt Lauer about her near-deadly skydiving incident, during which she began to fall out of her harness. The mishap was caught on camera and has gone viral online.
The company said it would carry out an investigation into the parachute's failure.
Complete world news coverage from NBCNews.com
The injured skydiver hails from the North Island town of Taupo, according to local media reports.
The accident occurred during the 11th annual Good Vibes skydiving festival, according to New Zealand's One News.
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Just amazing.One incredible lucky guy. If it were me, I would take the second chance at life and spend more time with family and friends. I know there are those who say keep on doing what you love.But I love my family, and some "things" are just that.Things.Keep doing stuff outdoors with loved ones.What a second gift of life.Yep you can die crossiing the street, but why push your luck. I wish him a speedy recovery.
Bet you won't see his ass jumping out of a plane anytime soon.
Ranman87: I'll bet you will. He is a seasoned skydiver. 1000 dives to his credit which is probably why he is alive today. As soon as his injuries heal he will be right back up there doing it again! These people have a thirst for danger and don't let things like this scare them. I am not one of those people but he surely is.
The only thing that comes out of the air is bird sh%$ and fools .
Hope the man completely recovers from his injuries and enjoys his second chance at life.
Yeah, I'd still like to try sky diving. It is probably less dangerous than driving.
The difference being that you (most likely) need to drive. You do not need to jump out of an airplane.
I did my 25th jump on Sunday. Yes, statistically, skydiving is far safer than driving. But you do always see the argument that you're voluntarily adding the risk to your life when you choose to jump.
That's why I compare skydiving to high school cheerleading. Both are voluntary, and cheerleaders have a much much higher probability of being hurt or killed.
True, but skydivers don't wear those little skirts that lift up when they jump.
Ahhhh, true, but only a very dull life consists of doing only what is utterly safe and necessary.
With such a mind set, I suspect one would never even make love to woman [or the gender-appropriate choice for your sexual orientation], let alone go swimming in the ocean, ride a bike, or have a drink.
We're all going to get it one way or another, and for many, the end won't be very pretty. Why not check out while doing something you really enjoy doing?
Those of you who are for taking unnecessary risks really can't complain about smokers and those who with bad diets, right?
Your diet and your smoking habits are of less than no concern to me.
I will say I'll never understand the rationale behind breathing hot, carcinogenic gases into your lungs, for transport to every fiber of your being, especially when this act ages you inside and out, promotes a host of life-threaten illness, and can even cause impotence.
But it is certainly your right to do so.
Hearing to many incidents involving defective parachutes.
There is a picture of where this mans feet hit the ground at this site, wow!
There's also a better story on the incident here if anyone wants to check it out. Seems NBC didn't get all of there story right!
great headline, Capt. Obvious
You beat me to it, Thomas. What exactly are the options for what to hit when a parachute fails? The NBC news tards got up early to write that one.
Agree.........and both of you are faster this morning at observing this profound headline............Now it would have really been news if the headline was:
"Man rescued by flying geese after parachute fails" or perhaps "NZ Man's fall broken by herd of wallabies after parachute fails"
At least, Ron, that would have been real news. Improbable yes but something worthy of a headline. The obvious effects of gravity are for grade school science books.
Exactly what I thought when I saw this. I mean what was the alternative to the ground?
I thought the same thing and then I thought about it. He could have hit a building, powerlines, trees or landed in the water.
How about "man SURVIVES fall after parachute fails"...
NZ skydiver hits ground after parachute fails
Who'd of thought?!
Curious, the article did not mention the issue with the plane that caused him to parachute out. Did the pilot and other passengers get out ok? Surely, he didn't just jump from a functioning airplane.
What a Stupid, Stupid Headline: "NZ skydiver hits ground after parachute fails". Did we think he was just going to float away when his chute failed? Glad to hear the injures aren't life threatening. here's hoping for a speedy recovery.
Why on earth would anyone jump out of a perfectly functioning aircraft?
I agree with you wholeheartedly. The plane would have to be on fire (the WHOLE plane), no pilot (co-pilot, or engineer for that matter) no functioning engines and all other means with which to control the plane have gone out. THEN; and only then, would I THINK about jumping.
I asked that question to a master parachutist when I was in the USAF. His response? "There's no such thing as a perfectly functioning aircraft."
First stop after hospital release- Wal Mart for some new undies. I'm sure the ones he had on didn't fare too well.
This has to be one of the most stupid headlines I have ever read in my life.
The simple addition of "and lives" would have helped.
But alas, the headline, "NZ skydiver hits ground after parchute fails" fall into the "No Sh*t Sherlock" catagory of dog bites man.
Where else was the person to fall? Up?
who writes this horsesh*t?
So, the first chute deployed but he couldn't steer it? Does that mean this guy cut away a chute that was properly slowing his fall because he couldn't control where he would land? What about the many millions of jumps that took place before chute technology advanced to the point of allowing the jumper to steer? The vast majority of those parachutists landed safely and walked away.
I agree with the comments about the headline. I laughed when I read it.
This headline
'NZ skydiver hits ground after parachute fails'
ranks right up there with
'Man bites dog in front of hot dog stand' !!!!
Man falls after his legs give way to a local charity........I am going to write that one next for NBC and collect my check.
That is a really silly headline!!!
Stupid headline, stupid writing! " furious descent was only slowed when his reserve chute finally opened 750 feet above the ground". Furious descent? His first chute evidently worked to slow that! Why not just headline it," Man falls from 13,000 feet with failed parachute"? Nothing more than sensationalism. If I wanted Fox news reporting, I'll go there!
When man is in the air, whether in an airplane, helicopter, blimp, or parachute, things just seem normal when things go right. Yet, when things go wrong, very bad things happen very quickly.
Most people have no idea how to control an "out of control" situation in the air. Captain Sully had a solid contengency plan, and saved everyone on his airplane. This parachute guy did not have a solid contengency plan -- he is luck to be alive.
LUCKY SOB!!!
Hits ground, really. Where the h$ll else would he have gone? This is what passes for journalism at NBC nowadays. The only thing missing is Fisty, Bev and First Read tolls calling the survivor a right wing nut.
Water, trees, buildings, cars.......
See comment #7.5
He landed with his spare parachute open, just like it is supposed to when the main chute fails. So what's the big deal except that he was saved by his backup?
The tagline from the main page that peaked my interest enough to read this article, "New Zealand skydiver hits ground after parachute failure"
My first thought was, DUH! They didn't actually think he would defy the laws of gravity and float after his chute failed to open... did they? But then again it's MSNBC, so yeah... someone probably did think that.
When i was in the Army in the 80's I made 40 static line jumps and once saw a guy burn in after his main deployed tangled, he cut away and deployed his backup, but we don't jump from 13,000 we jump from 1300 or so depending on the mission so he didn't get a full deployment on his back up. He was at least half a mile from me and I saw him "bounce" at least 10 feet in the air after impact.
The ambulance drove out to him and being the stud that he was he actually got up and walked into the ambulance. I thought he was dead when I saw him bounce. The human body is very resilient.
Old rule of thumb when jumping. NEVER cut away a good chute (i.e., a chute which has fully opened). Big fat PERIOD, no exceptions to this rule! Reserve chutes rarely get used, so they rarely get repacked. Not a good thing to rely upon unless you make a point of periodically repacking them, whether you have actually used them or not.
(Actually, it almost reminds me of my previous bad jump. Back in early 1972 in U.S. Special Forces, I was scheduled to make my monthly jump in the military, but a large number of us were held up making our monthly jump because of bad weather. Finally after a week of heavy rain, we finally got clear weather. That day I almost got to make my jump from a C5A, but at the last moment I got bumped by higher brass, so I made my jump that day from a C-141. It was a static line jump, and as usual the NG dropped us too low (approx. 800 ft., but unfortunately I didn't know this at the time), and I went through my tradition count. After four seconds when I didn't get my opening shock, I looked up and say my collapsed chute spinning above my head. We were supposed to try to shake out a collapsed chute before cutting away and deploying our reserve chute, so I reached up and tried to shake out my chute. After about 5 seconds or so of that (which failed), so I looked down to see how fast the ground was coming up. The ground didn't look like it was coming up too fast, so I looked up again and tried to shake my chute out. When that didn't work a second time, I looked down again and saw the ground coming up fast. I knew I didn't have time to deploy my reserve chute, so I just tried to make the best PLF anyone had ever made in the history of the world. When I hit, I got knocked out, but I woke up just as the field ambulance was arriving. I was already trying to get on my feet when the medics reached me, but for some reason every time I tried to stand up, I just kept falling over. At first I was very puzzled by this, but I figured it out just as the medics from the field ambulance got to me. They tried to make me lie down, but I just kept telling them I needed to get up. Suddenly my own advanced medical training kicked in, and I realized what I would want me to do if I were a medic trying to respond to this situation. So I finally just laid down, and pleaded with them to PLEASE help me get my feet out of the ground. I kept falling over because my feet had sunk down into the ground about a foot and a half into the rain soaked (plowed) ground, so I couldn't move my feet in order to keep my balance whenever I tried to stand up. The rest I barely remember as they took me to Womack Hospital at Ft. Bragg, N.C. I didn't break any bones, but I was all tore up inside. Still, there was no observable internal bleeding, so they sent me back to my SF barracks, where I convalesced for a full month. It still took me an additional two weeks on military leave to finally return to full active duty. Fortunately, I was the lead medic on our A-Team, which meant that I had the team medical footlocker under my bunk, and a very large supply of Darvon as a result. I almost became addicted to Darvon along the way, but I remembered my girl friend in Marrietta, GA who had become addicted to Darvon following an operation, so I carefully weaned myself off of those painkillers before I went on my leave. BTW, I had three (3) risers over my chute, which is almost unheard of. This in turn gave me a very minimal "May West" (AA cup). I tore the right rotator cuff in my right shoulder, and collapsed the arch in my left foot. I also started a hernia in my lower right abdomen, which would one day become the means of finally remembering the whole ET conspiracy against our world when the VA finally put me under general anesthesia in 1998. - Rick Carter