STRUGGLES IN MID-AIR

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXV, Issue 299, 4 December 1935, Page 8

STRUGGLES IN MID-AIR

Parachute That Failed

Injured in the early days of September in a parachute descent, Frederick Marsland, aged 26, subsequently died, and the circumstances of the tragedy were investigated by the coroner at Kingston (England) recently. The accident occurred during a demonstration by Sir Alan Cobham’s Air Circus.

Flight-Lieutenant H. C. Johnson stated that he was piloting a machine in which were 15 passengers, and Marsland made his descent wtien about 1000 ft. up. Marsland mounted a platform on the left wing before the machine left the ground, and he did not see him again until he left the aeroplane. Coroner, Dr. W. J. Lord: You saw him fall, and all the way to the ground he was trying to get the parachute to function correctly!—Witness: That is MV

The officer added that it was Marsland ’s responsibility to see that the parachute was in efficient working order. Marsland had been a parachutist for a considerable number of years in this country and in Canada. The parachute should billow out within a split second of the ripcord being pulled, and before leaving the aeroplane Coroner: What might cause the parachute only partially to open! Flight-Lieutenant Johnson explained that it might be due to the shroud lines being over the top of the silk of the parachute instead of underneath, and the weight of the man’s body would pull the lines tight and prevent the parachute from opening. “Marsland,” added Flight-Lieutenant Johnson, “was one of the finest parachutists I know, and ranked with the best three or four.”

Major J. P. C. Cooper, Air Ministry inspector of accidents, stated that the parachute was examined by three or four experts after the accident, and was found to be in a perfectly serviceable condition. The jury returned a verdict of “Accidental beath,” and added that nobody was to blame.