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.

Morten Pedersen, a local DeLand videographer had a bit of a shitty day at work recently. Or a really good day, depending on how you look at it. After an uneventful tandem video, he deploys his Velocity 103 main and encounters a brake fire. The canopy spins up and Morten cuts away. The main canopy takes off with the SkyHook and as you can see in the video the freebag/reserve pilot chute are thrown around wildly. The red SkyHook lanyard breaks and once the reserve canopy is clear, Morten works hard to get an inflated reserve over his head.

Mission accomplished about 150 ft off the ground – aims for the nearest available clear area and flare…. In this case a little extra altitude at the top definitely saved the day and the big sigh at the end of the video says it all. Well done Morten – a good reminder to all of us to never stop fighting.

This incident has promoted some discussion about the use of a SkyHook with high performance main canopies such as the Velocity. Morten has shared his footage with the manufacturers and they will review it closely to see what can be learned from this incident. For a bit of background, Morten has been in the sport for more years than we care to count and has extensive experience behind him in almost every facet of jumping. He was jumping a SkyHook equipped Sun Path Javelin, a Velocity 103 and an Optimum 126.

We would love to hear your thoughts on the topic in the comments or on Facebook, especially if you are one of those high performance pilots.

Photo by Yell Saccani

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.

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.

This past weekend Emily Berkeley passed away in a Denver hospital from extensive injuries sustained during a swoop landing after a hop & pop at Mile-Hi Skydiving in Longmont, CO.
This was Emily’s third jump of the day and she is reported to have been working on her swooping with an instructor. On her final jump, the turn was simply too low to allow for recovery.
Emily was a current jumper that held several certifications, including both AFF and PRO ratings and was a local jumper at Mile-Hi.

A memorial service is scheduled at Mile-Hi on December 23rd, 3:00-6:00 PM.
Our condolences to all of Emily’s friends and family.

From our friend Duane Palmer in Tennessee,

“Please meet Jennifer & Steve Helffrich…

Jennifer & Steve Helffrich

Jennifer, Steve & Friends

Steve as Tandem Master

On Saturday, April 10, 2010, during a normal skydive, Steve experienced a double malfunction (failure of both the main and reserve parachutes to fully deploy and/or inflate) and was flown via Life Flight to the only trauma center within 150 miles, Regional Medical Center (also known as ‘The Med’) in Memphis, Tennessee.

Steve sustained multiple life threatening injuries including damage to his aorta (the most serious of his injuries), punctured/deflated left lung, dislocated/broken right hip, and broken ribs on the right side (#5 thru #9).

Since being admitted into the trauma ICU, Steve has undergone several surgeries including vascular surgery to repair his aorta, the insertion of 6 chest tubes total, as well as surgery last week to remove excess fluid and infection surrounding his left lung.

Known by many as the “Mom and Dad” of the drop zone, Jen & Steve are always doing kind things for others while expecting nothing in return.  Most of us that skydive with them spend every weekend sharing our passion for the sport and the amazing friendships that have been established.  To a majority of us, they are our extended family.  Jen & Steve are both amazing skydivers, coaches, and most of all, friends – sharing this zest for life with anyone and everyone that will listen to them speak about the sport.

In this time of need, those of us that are friends, family, acquaintances, and those that will never “jump out of a perfectly good airplane,” have the opportunity to show them our support – whether it be through well wishes, cards, private prayer/church prayer lists, and/or donations.

Thankfully, Jen & Steve have insurance but with an accident of this severity, there are numerous additional incurred bills/daily hardships.  In order to show support, the Helffrich Benefit Fund has been established through First Tennessee Bank.

There are 3 options of how you can donate to this Fund:

#1:        Visit ANY First Tennessee Bank branch with the following account information:
Helffrich Benefit Fund (Account #182355531)
** NOTE: To find the closest First Tennessee Bank location to you, CLICK HERE **

#2:        Visit https://public.serviceu.com/payment/default.asp?OrgID=12725&PaymentID=7920

Enter contact information & banking information
(Check #/Checking Account Number/Routing Number)

** NOTE: This payment option is through David P. Smith’s Company, ServiceU Corporation, whose business is processing secure online transactions. **

#3:        If you are unable to visit a First Tennessee Bank location, do not have a branch in your area and/or do not wish to donate online, a check made out to Helffrich Benefit Fund can be sent to:

David P. Smith
1154 Talamore Cove
Collierville, TN  38017

Should you wish to send a card to Jen & Steve, please address them to:

David P. Smith
Attn:  Helffrich Family
1154 Talamore Cove
Collierville, TN  38017″

Current Update: He finally made it home last week. As it turned out he was really, really lucky!! It was really touch and go for a while there. He is now up and able to move around to a degree with a walker. And is very positive about life!!

But the running tally was 3 surgeries, 9 chest tubes (at different times), 31 days in ICU, 1 night in a regular room, 2 nights in Trauma Step Down ICU, countless x-rays and CT’s, a stent in the aorta, a trach, several broken bones all healing and about 35 lbs dropped. Plus 2 weeks in an rehab center.

The family could still use the financial help until he is able to get back up and to work. Any help would be great!!

He actually was able to get up and made it out to the DZ last weekend (didn’t jump naturally, but his wife got in a couple). The incident didn’t scare him away from the sport in the least. I think that he will be more involved now than ever. In training, coaching and teaching safety!! I can’t wait until he is able to be back in the air with us…

Well, this is a post I never thought I’d write. The seemingly indestructible Hungarian jumper Peter G has passed on to the great drop zone in the sky. I’ve never had a bigger crush on a bigger ass (if you knew him, you know what I mean) and we’ll all miss the infamous Peter G-isms. Like, “Vat, vat do you mean I can’t go downwind across the spectator area?” and “My friend, my friend…[insert awesomely weird advice here].” and “I’m alvays jumping. Even ven I sleep I am jumping.” Got more? Please share in the comments!

Peter’s family would like his ashes to return to Hungary, so there are a few fundraisers to help make that happen. Tanya Hannington is organizing an auction at the Ranch in New York. Prizes – so far – include 2 Blue Skies Mag subscriptions, Sun Path gear bags, reserve pack jobs, framed photographs, coach jumps and tons more. Donate something if you can and get to the Ranch to bid on some cool stuff.

Here are some photos that Peter G sent us and my slacker ass never got around to doing anything with.

The story he sent was,

“On September 6th during the infamous Skydive New England Tiki Bar Boogie freeflyers set an official Maine state Head Down record. The jump was part of 3 day freefly bender. With Travis Fienhage and Andy Malchiodi from SoCal Converge on hand organizing head up, head down, angle flying, and spaceball jumps it was only natural to throw a record in there. After determining that there was no official record it was decided to put together an 8-way round that would launch right out the door slot perfect. Local New England flyers Adam Laware, Chris McNaughton, Mark Rouillard, PJ Jackson and Dave Swanson combined with Dave Colucci, and the SoCal guys to put a record in the books on the first attempt. To ensure all went as planned Peter G. was on hand to get the perfect shot.”

Sorry, guys, to take so long to get that up. BSBD, Peter G.

We got an update on G, the swooper who was injured at World Cup in South Africa in November. From Julie, “He is now standing with assistance; as of 01/01, has some need of physio therapy, eating & talking, still wears halo device, hope to transfer to States in Feb.” His family and he still needs some help paying for all the costs of this injury, so the PayPal account is still active and ready for your New Year’s good karma donations Thoughts and prayers are just as helpful (we think, anyway) if you can’t spare a buck.

The PayPal info again is:
LT197044060003600396
Inga Gaizauskiene
AB SEB bankas
Gedimino pr. 12, LT- 01103 Vilnius
Banko Kodas 70440
SWIFT Kodas CBVILT2X
email account info: gaizauskiene.inga@hotmail.com

Dedicated readers might remember Eugenio “Keno” Dominguez from our August issue. His NSTIW story of a June 2009 freefall collision was harrowing, to say the least. Our friends from Airtec recently let us know that Keno is back in the air, and he agreed to let us share his e-mail to them. We’ll hopefully have a follow-up interview with Keno in the next issue of Blue Skies Mag, but first, check out the video of the jump…

From: “Eugenio Dominguez G.”
To: Helmut Cloth, “Rob ‘Dutch’ Kendall”
Date: 12/21/2009 01:11 AM
Subject: Back in the air!!!!!!!!!!!!

Helmut and Rob:

Hope you remember me! , im Just writing you guys to say Hi, and tell that im in the last part of my healing. Everything is OK, just my eye is not closing perfectly, but is a very small detail.

Yesterday I came back to the air!!!!!!!!! Yes, was my first jump since my accident!!, I had a tandem first, and then fly with my friend, doing some good grips in belly.

Im completely happy !! im been waiting this since june 10th!!!

Thanks again for everything and for working every day to improve details to save more and more people.

During the surgery I had my nice suit all broken, so im desingning a new one, and Its completely important for me to have CYPRES written on it. I hope there´s no problem to do that.

I really never gonna forget my accident, and the answer of how i didn´t explode on the floor, is CYPRES.

Cypress is gonna live with me for ever.

OK, hoping you guys are doing Ok, having some nice jumps, Best Regards

Keno