[Tijeras_Slim]

I jumped in the early 80’s. Square chutes want to open but can collapse. Round chutes didn’t always want to open, but once there, stayed there.

It’s a lot safer than one would think. My dropzone at the time had been open since 1968 and had it’s first fatality about a year ago.

[HerrBlucher]

Turbulence likely could collapse them. If he was coming in low near buildings he might have caught a rotor or he caught the edge of a thermal. It likely would have reopened if he had enough altitude.

I took paragliding lessons for while but when I saw how they could so easily collapse in turbulence I dropped out. I want my airfoils to stay in one place in flight.

[TChad]

Square chutes want to open but can collapse. Round chutes didn’t always want to open, but once there, stayed there.

That's not encouraging.