January 1st, 2012 Dr. T. Elaine McLaughlin passed away due to trauma sustained after a low cutaway followed by reserve deployed too late to inflate. The incident took place at Skydive City, Zephyrhills, FL.

Dr. T. Elaine was 60 years old and an active and current skydiver in Z-Hills. After deploying her parachute (a Spectre 120 in a Javelin container) at a normal altitude, her canopy was observed to be turning, followed by a very low cutaway. Reserve was deployed manually but did not have enough time to inflate. Sources from the dropzone estimate cutaway hight at approximately 700 ft and reserve activation at approximately 400 ft.
It is not known why the cutaway was performed so low. Details of the accident are still under investigation.

We send our sincere condolences to her family and friends in Z-Hills. Memorial services have already taken place. Her obituary in the Tampa Bay Times can be found here.

After many weeks of searching, the body of well-known skydiver Dave Brown has been located. Below is a message from Dave’s family: “Our family confirms the finding of the remains of our son, brother, cousin, and nephew in Moab. We are devastated by our loss of such a gifted young man. Special thanks to Moab’s Chief of Police, Mike Navarre, and his staff for their tending to us and Dave as a missing person. We also thank the volunteers at Rocky Mountain Rescue Dogs, Dave’s many friends far and wide, and Ryan Shaw and his students at Paradrenalin for their extraordinary efforts in searching for Dave. Dave’s loved ones had not heard from him since June 29. On October 23 a hiker found remains in the mountains surrounding Moab. On October 26 Chief Mike confirmed that the remains belong to Dave. We treasure the concern and best wishes of so many young people that were touched by Dave’s smile and sense of adventure. Private family funeral arrangements are in process. Please respect our need to grieve our loss within our immediate family. Blue skies, Dave. You are so loved and your incredible zest for life will be missed.” Dave Brown was one of a kind for sure. His memory is certain to live on in the stories we tell around the campfire for a long time to come. If you anything you’d like to share, please feel free to do so in the comments below or e-mail us.

Ted Strong, 1936-2011

Ted Strong D-16 4/7/1936-10/14/2011

A visionary from the beginning and a man with an enormous heart passed away on Friday.

There are too many stories to write about the legend that is Ted Strong. Ted strived to improve the industry that he loved without seeking fame or credit. He just wanted a safer and more inviting environment for everybody to enjoy and experience skydiving the way he did.

Ted Strong started skydiving in 1958, entered the US Army in 1959 with 100 jumps, and was stationed at the United States Military Academy at West Point, NY for two years.  His duty there was to coach the USMA Cadet Parachute Team and the West Point Sport Parachute Club. In 1961 Ted started Strong Enterprises, a parachute company in his parents basement. He began by modifying round parachutes, sewing and making anything his friends needed to skydive. A friend once said “ Ted Strong’s company wasn’t there to make money, but to make parachutes for his friends” This quote personified Ted.

The industry and the world has lost a wonderful person and those that knew him will miss him dearly. Those that never had the pleasure of meeting him will feel his influence anytime they make a skydive.

Ted was awarded the USPA Gold Medal for Meritorious Service in 2002, “For almost a half-century of contribution to the skydiving community as a competitor, a sponsor of numerous US parachute teams, and, most notably, his unique innovation in parachute equipment design including the tandem skydiving system and its importance to the growth of the sport in general and USPA in particular.” [USPA] He was inducted into the National Skydiving Museum’s Hall of Fame last year.

Blue skies, Ted. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Strong family and the many, many people whose lives he touched.

Pete Certain, an Alabama BASE jumper, died at the Perrine Bridge in Idaho Falls, ID on September 3. According to the BASE Fatality List, this is the sixth known Perrine fatality.

27 year old Brady Kane died May 7th Fort Morgan Skydiving, CO, after impacting the ground hard following a low turn. This was Brady’s 4th jump of the day and equipment is not believed to be a factor.
Brady was an experienced canopy pilot with over 5000 jumps and well known on the swooping scene. He was a Colorado native and thus very familiar with the challenges of jumping and swooping at altitude.

Swooping is an unforgiving sport with a small margin for error. Even a small mistake may have serious consequences. Those planning to swoop would be well advised to find themselves a qualified coach and take small steps in their progression – be safe out there, kids.

Blue Skies Brady – and our deepest condolences to Brady’s friends and family.
Memorial service is scheduled for Thursday May 12th, at the Boulder Theater in Boulder, CO. Reception will be held directly following the memorial at Mile Hi Skydiving Center, Longmont, CO.

Just after noon on Saturday April 28th, Frank Keen, a veteran skydiver with about 2000 died following an accident at Skydive Palatka, operating at Kay Larking Airport in Palatka, FL. Several news reports claim that Frank’s canopy did not open. As customary, investigation is undergoing to determine what may have been the cause of the accident.

Frank was 67 years old and a long time jumper at Palatka. This weekend several of the old school jumpers had gathered at Palatka for a few jumps and reminiscing about days gone by – true to the motto of “the older you are, the better you were”.

The Palatka family is a tight knit one and we send our sincerest condolences to all of Franks family and friends.

Update: Memorial Service is planned for Tuesday May 3rd, 2011 at the Peniel Baptist Church, Silver Lake Drive, Palatka, FL. All who would like to remember Frank are welcome to attend.

A double fatality occurred at Perris Valley Skydiving last Friday, on April 1st when Pat McGowan and Chris Stasky, both very experienced jumpers and instructors, collided under canopy. The collision took place too low to allow them to separate and recover in time for landing – estimated at 300-400 feet. Both jumpers were pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigation is still underway, but at present time there are no hard facts pointing to the exact causes of this incident.
Patrick McGowan and David Stasky were both respected and experienced instructors and were working at a training camp with the Canadian military.

This incident has sent ripples through the skydiving community and initiated many discussions around bonfires and in online forums about canopy safety and what can be done to prevent this type of incident from happening. Unfortunately there are no simple solutions, but we are glad to see the level of awareness increase.

Stasky was single, but Pat McGowan leaves behind a wife – Blue McGowan – and 2 young children, Rose and James.
Perris Valley Skydiving has set up a fund to benefit Pat’s family and children and we encourage those of you that are able to to donate to the McGowan family fund.

We send our deepest sympathies to the families and friends of both Pat and Chris. We join thousands of skydivers from all over the world in remembering Pat as an incredibly talented skydiver and a gifted instructor and coach.

An experienced jumper died at Cross Keys yesterday. C Scott Shields was a somewhat experienced jumper with over 100 jumps. Friends describe him as very energetic and highly enthusiastic about skydiving. The freefall portion of the 2-way jump went as planned but for reasons yet unknown, Scott did not deploy his main canopy.
His rig was AAD equipped and the automatic opener did activate, but for some reason the reserve canopy did not fully inflate. Medical problems (such as a heart attack) may have been a contributing factor in this case. There were no witnesses to the final portion of the jump, but Shields’s reserve landed in trees near the airport. As is customary, FAA officials will conduct an investigation and hopefully we will learn more about the cause of events at a later date.

Our sincerest condolences to Scott’s family, friends and extended family at Cross Keys.

News stations are reporting the crash of a Twin Otter near Tara Field, Georgia at around 11:45 this morning. The plane is registered to Desert Sand Aircraft Leasing Company, whose planes bear the Skydive Spaceland logo. The aircraft is reported to have been on a maintenance trip in Georgia.
Two people died in the crash, and our sources tell us that at least one of those was a skydiver.

Our sincerest condolences to the families of the deceased and all their friends at Skydive Spaceland.

On February 27 a jumper participating in a 40-way sequentials at Perris Valley, CA died impacting the ground following a low cutaway from a malfunctioning main canopy. Nicole Hannan, native of Australia, was an experienced skydiver with considerable big-way experience. She was observed falling in a stable belly-to-earth position after the cutaway, turning slightly. It is not known why Nicole cut away so low (witnesses on the ground estimated the cutaway at 400-500 ft) or did not deploy her reserve.

Our condolences to all of Nicole’s friends and family.