Skydiver Hits Bridge in Colorado, Dies

AP via Yahoo! ^ | Oct 6, 2003 1:03 AM ET | AP

[hattend]

Skydiver Hits Bridge in Colorado, Dies Mon Oct 6, 1:03 AM ET Add U.S. National - AP to My Yahoo!

CANON CITY, Colo. - A skydiver attempting a stunt was killed Sunday when he hit a 1,000-foot-high bridge and fell onto the rocks below, police said.

Dwain Weston, 30, died following the inaugural Go Fast Games, in which he and other parachutists had jumped off the 1,053-foot-high Royal Gorge Bridge, said Heather Hill, a vice president of event sponsor Go Fast Sports & Beverage Co.

Weston, of Australia, had jumped from an airplane with another parachutist. They were supposed to free fall until they reached the bridge, at which point Weston was to go above the bridge and the other athlete would go under it.

Weston, who was traveling an estimated 100 mph, miscalculated his distance from the bridge, the world's highest suspension bridge. He struck a railing and fell onto a rock face roughly 300 feet from the bottom of the gorge.

"I really couldn't believe it. All I ever heard was he was the best in the world, and he had skill to do it," Hill said. "Of course he always understood the risk and consequences of what he did. He was somewhat of a showman in his sport."

Weston was wearing a "wing suit," which has fabric extending below the arms to the body, with more fabric between the legs, allowing a skydiver to catch the air and travel more horizontally.

There were about 200 people on the bridge at the time of the accident, said Royal Gorge Bridge and Park executive director Mike Bandera. The bridge was shut down for about 15 to 20 minutes.

Before the accident, Weston had participated in the Go Fast Games, jumping off the bridge with about 40 other BASE jumpers — athletes who skydive from fixed objects.

The Royal Gorge is narrow for maneuvering parachutes, and winds are tricky, according to Go Fast Parachuting Director Jimmy Pouchert.

Hill said the accident would not affect future Go Fast Games, which also include rock climbing and BMX jumping.

[ConservativeLawyer]

Thanks! I will have to plan a trip out there soon.

[ArrogantBustard]

Gory, gory what a helluva way to die,
HE AIN'T GONNA JUMP NO MORE!!!!!

[76834]

Here's a couple we took a few years ago, It is a LONG LONG way down.......

[freepersup]

Weston, of Australia, had jumped from an airplane with another parachutist. They were supposed to free fall until they reached the bridge, at which point Weston was to go above the bridge and the other athlete would go under it.

Either one of these jumpers could have miscalculated their trajectory and instead of entering the gorge, impacted onto the rim above, or into the sidewalls of the gorge itself. I suspect for obvious reasons, the jumpers had to sacrifice some control by increasing their forward speed in order to hit the window (gorge). In other words, if their calculations were off initially, there would be a need to cover a greater distance to enter the safety of the gorge, requiring a steeper track in an effort to cover more distance. Unfortunately, the earth continues to get closer and closer as the seconds tick away, diminishing margins of error. Making the gorge was the first order of business, avoiding the walls and man made superstructures inside it, became the next order of business.

Weston, who was traveling an estimated 100 mph, miscalculated his distance from the bridge, the world's highest suspension bridge. He struck a railing and fell onto a rock face roughly 300 feet from the bottom of the gorge.

[gortklattu]

I wonder what their jump altitude was....

If they had their jump run along the gorge, rather than across it, they would minimize their spotting errors.

They didn't say if the jumper hit the leading or trailing part of the bridge. If he were in a "track", he didn't have room to flare out before opening.

I opened my canopy in a track ONCE. The opening shock had me seeing stars and I bloodied a lip from crashing my face into the center link of my harness. It's something you don't want to do. So lets assume that the jumper was in stable position when he hit; unless he knew he was in trouble.....then, why didn't he pull?

This incident just doesn't make sense unless the jumper lost his cool.

[hattend]

Correct me if I'm wrong but don't the new flying suits these guys are using slow the descent rate and therefore increase the "glide" ratio?

I don't know what a normal skydiver gets in a head down track, I imagine it's less than 1 to 1. With these suits they are supposedly getting better than 1 to 1.

I have a feeling this guy got a target fixation ("gee, don't hit that") and he flew right to where he was looking. I've done that in a 13 to 1 hangglider, I have no idea if that happens in freefall.

Thoughts?

[gortklattu]

If the glide ratio in a track with these new suits is better than 1:1, it's not by much. I was jumping in the days of tight suits and made the change to the bell suits. There was a difference, especially when you put on the "brakes", but the freefall difference wasn't that great...maybe 10 mph at altitude.

Jumpsuits here: http://www.bodysportusa.com/suits.htm

One suit is called the "crater suit", very apropos if you eat high speed dirt.

I believe the Royal Gorge is at 5,000 msl. You fall faster at that altitude...until you hit something.

Twice I had LOW openings. The ground rush is incredible once you get below 1,000 feet. My point is that the bridge was growing like a monster before he hit it. My thought is that this guy developed mind lock and didn't think objectively and with safety concerns about what he was doing....else he would have opened the pack as soon as he realized that he MAY be in trouble, especially at LOW altitude.

Jumper error started 10 secs before he hit the bridge... this is from an USPA ex-safety officer.

[hattend]

Those weren't the suits I was thinking of. Have you seen the Laura Croft II movie? They sprout wings!

Here is a related (kind of) thread.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/954749/posts

[freepersup]

The thing is, how responsive is a human body in flight ? This was the first time (that I am aware of) where jumpers intentionally tracked towards a man made object. Think about it... ordinarily, one would be tracking away from such a structure...

Flying an F-16 under the bridge is one thing... willing your body to do what the mind wants it to do, in your very best track configuration is literally quite another...

What previous references, speaking specifically to manuvering head on into a gorge, intending to go under or over a bridge in a full blown track, did either of these jumpers have ?

Speaking from experience, the jumpers needed some data in relation to their capabilities, tracking to and fro, "around" objects. Sport jumping, or base jumping, doesn't provide the necessary feedback, to correlate to this first time event.

Imagine a couple of jumpers in freefall, seperated a known distance, each towing a piece of fabric, say 100' in length, simulating "targets". Another jumper delays their exit or exits from another a/c with the express purpose of manuvering around these targets, in an effort to determine their tracking and manuvering capabilities, while wearing the winged suits and maintaining their respective tracking positions...

They had to be: simultaneously, aligned properly within the center of the gorge, the proper distance from the bridge, and they had to be at the proper altitude above or below the bridge...

A missed exit point, unexpected freefall drift, human nature/ego wanting to accomplish said stunt, poor judgement, etc., would be additional factors in play...
I used to intentionally track towards people in freefall, as they would track towards me... served with the USAPT GK's... it was one of the most exhilirating experiences I have ever participated in... akin to a bird of prey diving after it's next meal... it ain't pretty when bad things happen to good people... a couple of times the "diamond" trackers got too close and collided with each other... needless to say, fatalities resulted... closing speed (impact) of 360 mph... ouch !

During winter training in Yuma, Az., (1984) some of us (USAPT GK's) discovered that we had unintentionally stretched (from circular to oblong) our largest D ring/s, which were the rings attached to the harness and part of the Booth 3-ring circus cutaway system, during excessively hard openings following the diamond track manuvers. The manufactured lot of D rings were condemned and we were grounded until they sent a quick fix solution.

A replacement D ring with an attachable connecter link, similar to the more conventional connecter links located at the riser/suspension line connection point, were afixed with threaded screws and "Loctite" adhesive for good measure. The deformed oblong D ring had the potential to restrict the middle ring of the 3-ring circus, from passing through itself in the event of a cutaway.

[freepersup]

a jumper in freefall and in a track position, (think of the ski jumpers at the Olympics, but head down) gets about a 1:1 glide ratio... exiting from 12,000' agl, a tracker could cover approximately 2 miles (10,000') before opening their parachute...

seems I read (which I question) that their descent rate was 30 mph and their forward speed was about 90-100 mph...

[freepersup]

a link to the type of suit that (I think) the jumpers were wearing...

http://www.bird-man.com/

[hattend]

Yep, that's the style suit I was thinking of.

[gortklattu]

The bridge was only 1100 feet above the river, right? That does not give them much time for opening. When I jumped, the minimum pack opening altitude for the D's was 2000 agl. Is it still so?

Hey, that dude wanted a thrill and ended his life with one.

I've jumped with several members of the USAPT, and knew Mike Wosley, who was killed in their crash in 72 or 73. You were jumping in the 80's?

[LibWhacker]

I've been there..it's a pretty wild setting.

Me too. Beautiful spot. One of my favorites.

Supposedly, it's hard to judge distances when you're parachuting, because there are no intervening objects to help you . . . and with more than a 1,000 feet yet to go, it's conceivable to me that it would be even harder . . . Sad.

[scott7278]

"A skydiver attempting a stunt was killed Sunday when he hit a 1,000-foot-high bridge and fell onto the rocks below, police said."

[freepersup]

It's been a while since I scared myself... so I went to the well for the answer...

Base jumping is a beast of a different dimension... I'm not even sure the USPA recognizes such a community of jumpers or their respective behavior (I tend to think that they don't)

Our subject jumpers violated the following minimum pack opening requirements because they exited from an aircraft and regulations are in place for such a circumstance. The pilot and surviving jumper may be subject to legal action because of this regulation. However, this is a first... a typical freefall exit from an a/c, morphing into a base jump... by involving the a/c, the jumpers and pilot brought themselves under the federales control...

2-1.07 MINIMUM OPENING ALTITUDES

Minimum container opening altitudes above the ground for skydivers are:

A. Tandem jumps–4,000 feet AGL

B. All students and A license holders–3,000 feet AGL

C. B license holders–2,500 feet AGL

D. C and D license holders–2,000 feet AGL

From a search about base jumping:

In the United States, skydiving from an airplane involves regulations set by the FAA, notably the requirement of an airplane jumper to carry two parachutes. Since BASE jumping does not involve an airplane, the FAA has no jurisdiction.

The undoing of at least one of these yahoos' was elementary...

The jumpers had to be on the same azimuth as the gorge was (at that particular point of planned descent and entry), AND they had to be in the exact center of the gorge as well...

An extreme example of their blunder would be if they approached the gorge at an angle 90 degrees to the center line of the gorge, which would mean that they would impact into the far side of the gorge's sidewall...

45 degrees carries a likely fatal outcome...

Entering the gorge, even one or two degrees off of the center line, could very well lead to a collision with the super structure of the bridge, depending on the distance and altitude to or from the bridge, as one enters it...

The Gold Team was killed along with the aircrew of the team's DC-3 near (I think) Silk Hope, NC, in 1973. Paul Albritton was aboard and killed in the crash. I met his widow Julie, a jumper as well, around 1978, at the local drop zone in Minier, IL. Paul's nephew or brother Rick, (it's been awile) served on the team with me in the 1980's. I was with the team during the years '1983-1985'.

Found this in searching for info. on the crash:

North Carolina, Douglas C-47, 3/8/73, 14 onboard, 14 killed, USAPT, crashed enroute to demo-catastrophic structural failure

In closing, I haven't found out yet, what the exit altitude was for this jump... because they used an a/c, they would've had to comply with the basic USPA and FAA regs. regarding minimum pack opening altitudes...

[U S Army EOD]

Then chickens would be real happy with that bridge.