UPDATE VERNON – The skydiving company whose student crash landed into a Vernon house Monday says the man became unconscious in the air.
“The student skydiver seemed to have lost consciousness while he was under his parachute after a normal opening on a normal parachute. He was able to control for two-thirds or three-quarters of the way down and then he seemed to lose consciousness for an undetermined reason,” says Bret Chalmers with Okanagan Skydive.
Chalmers says the man was part of a first jump solo course for students learning to skydive on their own.
“He has no broken bones,” says Chalmers, “He’s probably not having a great day but we are grateful that he’s not in any worse shape.”
Chalmers says it was an isolated incident.
“It’s the first time that I’ve ever seen this. We drop around 6,000 skydivers a year and to date I’ve never seen a solo jumper lose consciousness,” says Chalmers.
He says the company does do a medical screening when people register.
“They are asked to disclose any medical conditions and there is a list of things that might affect. This individual didn’t disclose anything,” he adds.
The student skydiver hit the side of a house on Myriad Road late Monday afternoon before falling to the ground.
Okanagan Skydive is planning to report the incident to the Canadian Sport Parachute Association.
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RCMP say they may take a statement from the skydiver but are not investigating further.
ORIGINAL STORY
VERNON, B.C. – A man has been taken to Vernon Jubilee hospital in stable condition after landing on the roof of a home while skydiving.
The accident happened at around 4:00 p.m. Monday in the 2400 block of Myriad Road.
Okanagan Skydive says a student skydive went awry.
“After a normal opening on a normal student skydive that was uneventful, about half way down, the student became unresponsive under radio control. We guide them down under radio,” says Bret Chalmers, owner of Okanagan Skydive. “This ended up resulted in the skydiver colliding with the side of a home near the Vernon airport.”
When asked if there was a medical condition involved, Chalmers said he would not speculate.
“He quit responding to instructions,” says Chalmers.
Chalmers tells Global Okanagan news the student was awake when emergency crews arrived on scene.
“The skydiver had been trained with all of the normal training procedures with accordance with our national organization, the Canadian Sport Parachute Association,” he adds. “Okanagan Skydive strives to have the highest level of safety and we will definitely investigate this incident as thoroughly as we can.”
The parachute became tangled in the power lines at the back of the home. They were removed a short time later.
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