Death plunge for N.Z. girl

Press, 5 August 1980, Page 2

Death plunge for N.Z. girl

NZPA Sydney A New Zealand-born parachutist plunged 3000 m to her death near Newcastle on Sunday as horrified friends watched her trying to kick free of. her tangled harness: She was Janice Camden, aged 19, formerly of Masterton, but now of Naremburn, Sydney, and on , a wor- . king holiday in Australia. Another parachutist only a few metres away from her during a free fail described . how fellow jumpers watched helplessly when her canopy failed to open properly. “At one stage her hand was only about 10 feet away from us, but there was nothing we could do,” he said. Miss Camden’s sister was among the shocked onlookers on the ground who watched.

One of four parachutists who'jumped with her said yesterday, “when she deployed the main parachute the lines became twisted in the canopy. She should have deployed her emergency chute but apparently she wasn’t seen making any obvious attempt to open it.” Miss Camden jumped from a Cessna aircraft over Eldersley with four members of the Newcastle Sport Parachute Club about 4.30 p.m.

The police said she was about 160 m from the ground when she jettisoned the main parachute after trying to clear the tangled' lines. “At 750 m above the

ground her main chute opened but immediately tangled,” a club spokesman said. A Transport Department official will investigate the incident.