Parachutes entangled, says witness

Press, 19 July 1979, Page 5

Parachutes entangled, says witness

Coroner’s Court

A Christchurch parachutist. Stanley Ronald Seaward, aged 28, died in Westport on June 3 when his reserve and main parachutes became entangled, the relieving District Coroner (Mr A. N. Mac Lean) was told in the Christchurch Coroner’s Court yesterday. Evidence into Mr Seaward's death was taken in Christchurch at the request of the Westport coroner and the inquest adjourned back to Westport. A pathologist, Dr L. L.l Treadgold, said that his post-! mortem examination dis-( closed the cause of death as multiple injuries. The circumstances which! led to Mr Seaward’s fall; from an altitude of 1220 m (1365 ft were “very, very un-l usual,” according "to a wit-; ness, Steven Smith, equip-’ ment officer of the Christ-' church Skydiving Club. Mr Smith told the court that Mr Seaward began a “violent rotation” after he jumped from the aircraft for a 10 second delay jump. In his opinion, said Mr Smith, Mr Seaward attempted to open his main parachute but appeared to be not able to locate the ripcord ring. According to training instructions, he then released his reserve parachute. But. because of the rotation of his body, he said, the lines of the reserve parachute became entangled so that it did not fully deploy. After another 5s or so. lie said. Mr Seaward pulled the ripcord on his main para-

chute. But the lines of the ; main parachute became en- r tangled in the lines of the re- c serve parachute with the result that neither had deployed when he had dropped t to an altitude of about 240 m. i Mr Smith said the rotation ' was not normal and may s have been brought about by I Mr Seaward’s twisting his i body to activate the ripcord, t Also, he said, the victim ( may not have been able to! i maintain stability when he t j used both arms to seek the 1 i main parachute ripcord. i : He claimed that the paraj chutes had been properly' packed and there was no < i reason why they should not I I have functioned properly : j aside from Mr Seaward’s ro- i I fating and tumbling. : Mr Smith said he had ; jnever heard of such a thing happening before in New Zealand. The jump master. Andrew John Sanders, a university : student, told the coroner that Mr Seaward had exited normally in a stable attitude, but soon began to tumble and spin. He said the re-| i serve parachute was only! • partly inflated and the main! I parachute did not inflate at I : all. His theory' was that this could have been because Mri Seaward, at the time of re-1 leasing his reserve para-! chute, was facing the I ground, whereas he should • have had his back to the . ground. :! Mr Smith said that main t j parachutes were inspected 'every six months and reserve

parachutes every four 1 months by a qualified parachute packer. INQUEST ADJOURNED The inquest into the vehicle accident death of Alan Richard Dingwall, aged 70, following a two-car collision at the intersection of Ellesmere and Lincoln Roads in May, was adjourned un-l til the” next session of the Coroner’s Court. Dr Treadgold said that the! cause of death, according to his examination, was head! injuries. DIED FROM FALL Laurie Novis, aged 65, of I Christchurch, died on June 9: following a fall in the bathroom of his home, the Coroner was told by Constable K. D. Newman who investigated the accident. Mr Novis died the day following the fall after having been admitted to hospital with head injuries. Constable Newman said there were no suspicious circumstances. A pathologist, Dr P. R. Kelleher, said that his examination had shown that Mr ! Novis died from a fractured i skull and internal cerebral I bleeding. I The finding of the Coroner I was in accordance with the ( pathologist’s report. ‘ KILLED IN FIRE | A Diamond Harbour man. ] Patrick James Keenan, aged 73. died on May 31 from asphyxiation due to smoke inhalation and from burns when a shed on his property caught fire, the Coroner found.