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Double fatality at Dunkeswell
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune....5ecdd4d43.jpeg
Tandem skydive double fatality yesterday at Dunkeswell. https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon-news/two-die-devon-skydiving-tragedy-10264693 |
Very unfortunate. Skydive accidents are rare these days
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The article doesn't say which jumpers were killed. It's quite common for a tandem to be photographed/videod by a third jumper. Three such jumpers left my aircraft one day and the tandem passenger died after a collision with the photographer. The tandem master was knocked unconscious but survived the landing.
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Article:
Two skydivers have died following a "tragic accident" reportedly involving a tandem jump in Devon on Friday (June 13). Emergency services were called to Dunkeswell Airfield, near Honiton, yesterday afternoon, from where the incident took place. A spokesperson for Devon and Cornwall Police said today: "Emergency services were called to the area of Dunkeswell Aerodrome at around 1pm on Friday 13 June following concerns for the welfare of two people. "It was reported that they were skydivers. They were sadly both confirmed deceased at the scene and their families have been informed. "Scene guards remain in place and enquiries are ongoing by the relevant agencies. If anyone has information which may assist us, please call 101 or report via our website quoting 50250150193." In a statement issued to British Skydiving members, Chief executive Robert Gibson wrote: "Today, Friday 13 June 2025, British Skydiving has been notified of a tragic accident in which two jumpers lost their lives. Our deepest condolences go to their families, friends and the entire skydiving community. "A British Skydiving Board of Inquiry will investigate the accident. Once complete, a report - setting out the Board's conclusions and any recommendations - will be submitted to the coroner, the police, the CAA, the British Skydiving Safety & Training Committee (STC) and any other relevant authorities. "No further details will be provided at this time. We respectfully ask for privacy for all those affected at this difficult time." |
Originally Posted by DogTailRed2
(Post 11902368)
When you do a tandem drop do you get a reserve? I ask because most reserves are on the front where the second skydiver would be.
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Originally Posted by DogTailRed2
(Post 11902368)
When you do a tandem drop do you get a reserve? I ask because most reserves are on the front where the second skydiver would be.
I've seen one operate when a solo student had a malfunction with the main but failed to cut away and the AAD fired the reserve very low. I thought she was a dead woman. Reading around it seems it was a tandem. If there's a malfunction with the main, which happens occasionally, it's cut away and the reserve deployed. If the reserve has a mal, it's very bad. Anybody can pack a main parachute but only qualified Riggers can pack a reserve. If the reserve didn't deploy the Rigger may have a few questions to answer. |
Tandem instructor and their student. TI's name is out and about amongst the community and BS Investigation sounds like it'll have something very soon. Unclear if they had a solo camera flying with them, but most students want a memento of their jump so TI might have had a GoPro on hand camera.
Skydiving super safe these days with all kinds of backups in play. SteepClimb covers things nicely, but for context it's not unusual to take a reserve ride and really no big deal. AAD is required for UK jumping and we have a good culture of mutual flightline checks in this country. That said, we've not had a good year so far; if someone has had enough, this sport can present a determined individual a simple opportunity to check out early :sad: |
Student been identified now in the press
https://www.devonlive.com/news/devon...devon-10265871 Sincere condolences.... |
Very sad all round and my home DZ for 20 years. Equipment and training are excellent these days and fatality rates very low circa 1/500,000 jumps for tandems. This is an oddity and root cause should be determined by investigation which will be thorough.
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Originally Posted by Steepclimb
(Post 11902400)
You're out of date, reserves are invariably incorporated into the main pack. Unless you're using a vintage rig. Plus almost all parachutes have an Automatic Activation Device AAD which opens the parachute if it detects a high rate of descent below a certain altitude.
I've seen one operate when a solo student had a malfunction with the main but failed to cut away and the AAD fired the reserve very low. I thought she was a dead woman. Reading around it seems it was a tandem. If there's a malfunction with the main, which happens occasionally, it's cut away and the reserve deployed. If the reserve has a mal, it's very bad. Anybody can pack a main parachute but only qualified Riggers can pack a reserve. If the reserve didn't deploy the Rigger may have a few questions to answer. I must admit, I can't quite work out in my head why he lacks the pictures and video, as I would have expected the photographer to do their bit before the parachute was attempted to be deployed. I'm unlikely to get further information from the participants. Free-falling in groups is not risk free, as this illustrates. I hope all were fully informed of the risks before choosing to participate, and the relatives, colleagues, friends and staff affected are getting all the support they need. |
Originally Posted by Semreh
(Post 11903258)
Free-falling in groups is not risk free, as this illustrates.
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Originally Posted by Semreh
(Post 11903258)
A young man of my acquaintance did his first parachute jump, planned as a tandem, recently. The main failed, so the pair came down on the reserve. He seemed unperturbed, other than not having the (expensive) photographs/GoPro footage he had ordered. [...]
I must admit, I can't quite work out in my head why he lacks the pictures and video, - Peter (1000+ tandems) |
'Mals' are not unknown but really rare. Of the several thousand tandems I dropped I can only remember three or four. So this accident stands out as almost unheard of.
It looks worse from the ground. One day the cut away main landed in the nearby village. It caused consternation because the locals thought the skydiver had fallen out of the harness. When we arrived to collect it, a crowd had gathered and the police called. We were able to reassure them that no one had been hurt. |
Originally Posted by EXDAC
(Post 11903404)
Are there any reports that this tandem was jumping with a group?
As with all things aviation, sometimes things go pear shaped and we don't have a lot of time to rectify things. Sounds very much like this is one of those instances. |
To reports/rumours of what happened:
From a now deleted account, a apparent member of the club posted a rather salty expose of the club internals and in a follow-on comment reports a double malfunction, suggesting it may have been a line-over on the reserve. I cannot post links yet, but googling 'dunkeswell tandem accident reddit' should get you to the aforementioned post in r/SkyDiving "Skydivers killed in 'tragic accident' ...". ymmv |
Originally Posted by charlie.at
(Post 11904054)
To reports/rumours of what happened:
From a now deleted account, a apparent member of the club posted a rather salty expose of the club internals and in a follow-on comment reports a double malfunction, suggesting it may have been a line-over on the reserve. I cannot post links yet, but googling 'dunkeswell tandem accident reddit' should get you to the aforementioned post in r/SkyDiving "Skydivers killed in 'tragic accident' ...". ymmv |
Originally Posted by EXDAC
(Post 11903404)
Are there any reports that this tandem was jumping with a group?
I misread (Permalink->) https://www.pprune.org/accidents-clo...l#post11901964 , and thought it applied to this incident. A tandem jump plus a photographer is a group - admittedly small (only two in the 'group', but still a group where the members are capable of independent motion). I am happy for a mod to remove my postings if they are promulgating misinformation. Apologies for the mistake. |
Originally Posted by pchapman
(Post 11903494)
Whether the pics and video were being obtained by another jumper as videographer, or by GoPro hand cam by the instructor, I have heard of dropzones "losing" the media if there was something embarrassing on it. ("Sorry, we'll refund you for the video. Had a camera problem and it didn't record.") Particularly if it showed a screwup by the tandem instructor. Normally a random, run of the mill malfunction wouldn't spook the dropzone's management, but it is possible even then, if they are worried about "I almost died!" social media posts.
- Peter (1000+ tandems) |
Originally Posted by CayleysCoachman
(Post 11904621)
Tandem jumps have morphed from a way of introducing potential trainees to a sport on an occasional basis, to what is effectively a paid-for adventure sport, and even worse, abused by charities for fundraising with a blind eye (yes, I do intend the irony) to the risk.
I’m not impressed by the way that ‘informed consent’ is obtained, and I'm especially not impressed by a sporting organisation with enormously vested interests running the investigation into the death of someone who paid to do something (or especially tragically, whose partner paid for them to do it). A decent Coroner should require much more, and I'm worried that they don’t. You are quite wrong in your implications. The BPA will investigate this thoroughly, without the bias you imply. They have no interest in allowing rogue operators to offer tandems. The sport itself is incredibly safe. I pointed out out earlier that in dropping thousands of tandems in my time as a skydive pilot. I only had a couple of injuries to a customer. Usually a broken or sprained ankle because they failed to lift their legs on landing. Multiply that by all the skydive operators out there around the world and to use a cliché it's safer than the drive to the airfield. A quick check revealed that the fatal accident rate for all skydiving is 0.0011%. For tandems it's even lower. As for Charities turning a blind eye. That's a ridiculous suggestion. |
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