Freak parachute accident described

Press, 8 March 1984, Page 14

Freak parachute accident described

PA Wellington Details of a freak parachuting accident in 1981 in which a Rotorua man died and a plane was destroyed have been revealed in an air accident report. The Chief Inspector of Air Accidents, Mr Ron Chippindale, said in the report that the parachutist, Mr Robert Clough, apparently hit and then caught his parachute on the tail of the Cessna aircraft from which he had just jumped. He died two days latter of his injuries. Three parachutists, the most experienced acting as “jumpmaster,” were preparing to make jumps near Rotorua Airport in August, 1981, Mr Chippindale said. Mr Clough was the second parachutist to leave the air-

craft. Mr Chippindale said that when Mr Clough made his jump his reserve parachute was “inadvertently deployed” before he jumped from the aircraft. “Those remaining on board heard a loud bang and the nose of the aircraft suddenly pitched up,” he said. “When the jumpmaster looked out of the doorway to check the descent of both jumpers “something at the back of the aircraft caught his eye.” “He noted that the righthand tailplane of the aircraft was up at an angle of about 20 to 30 degrees “above where it normally should have been.” “Witnesses on the ground reported seeing a parachutist momentarily trailing

behind the aircraft with his parachute caught on the aircraft’s tail. “The person then fell clear of the aircraft. His parachute did not inflate properly and during the descent it would partially fill with air and then collapse again.” Mr Chippindale said that when Mr Clough’s main , parachute was deployed the two parachutes became entangled. The damage made the aircraft uncontrollable and it went into a steep dive. As the aircraft appeared to be out of control, the jumpmaster bailed out. The pilot, who had never made a parachute jump before, also decided to bale out and the aircraft broke up in flight.