If you are a skydiver then you will be aware of the many risks associated with the sport. For instance, your parachute may fail to open in which case it is quite likely that you are going to die upon hitting the ground or you could end up parachuting into a wooded area that could result in your serious injury or even death. Whilst every precaution is taken to avoid such instances, they do happen, albeit infrequently when you consider the number of skydivers that take to the skies on a daily basis.
Well, you may be interested to hear of an incident that took place on Thursday 12th May 2016 in California that could have resulted in the death of 17 skydivers none of whom had even jumped from the plane. In fact, it may have been a problem with the plane that resulted in these skydivers lives being placed at risk.
Shortly after taking off with the pilot and 17 skydivers on board the Cessna 208 got into difficulty due to what may have been a problem with the engine. The appropriate authority is currently investigating the cause of the incident. As a result, the pilot had to take evasive action and try to make an emergency landing.
During its descent, unfortunately a truck was clipped by the plane albeit the occupants of the vehicle were unharmed. It landed in a vineyard but tipped over onto its back before coming to a halt about 50 feet from someone’s home.
The occupants were, with the exception of the pilot whose nose was bloody, unharmed although they were no doubt somewhat shocked in view of what had happened. The skydivers must have remained as calm as they could because they put their helmets and seatbelts back on as they waited for the plane to make an emergency landing in the vineyard.
Let’s hope that none of our skydiving clients or anyone else for that matter finds themselves in a similar situation. It is possible to view a video on the Internet of part of the incident that was taken by one of the skydivers.
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