QLD: Skydiver s body undiscovered in paddock for a week

AAP General News (Australia)
08-02-1999
QLD: Skydiver s body undiscovered in paddock for a week

By Barbara Adam

BRISBANE, Aug 2 AAP - A skydiver who fell 4,000 metres to his death with an unopened
parachute strapped to his back lay undiscovered in a farm paddock for a week.

The 39-year-old man's body was found yesterday by a farmer in the parachutists' drop zone
at Toogoolawah in the Brisbane Valley, Queensland police said today.

He had jumped from a plane along with 10 other experienced skydivers on July 25 and police
are investigating why the man was not reported missing.

It appeared to be a suicide. Police said they found a note, thought to be written by the
man, but would not release its contents.

They questioned why the skydiving club involved did not conduct a head count at the end of
the day.

Australian Parachute Foundation (APF) coaching director Graeme Windsor said the skydiving
company had not breached any safety standards because under regulations approved by the Civil
Aviation Safety Authority, head counts are only required for novice parachutists.

But Mr Windsor he could not explain why the man had not been missed.

It was unusual that no one at the drop zone realised the man had failed to show, and in the
week he lay dead in the paddock his friends, family and co-workers did not report him missing
to police.

He said the man's death was probably not accidental, judging by a note left at the
parachutist's clubhouse.

"The statement in the note was pretty unequivocal - it was not an accident," Mr Windsor
said.

The dead man, from Kingston south of Brisbane, had made more than 200 jumps, been a member
of the APF since 1991 and held a B-class skydiving licence, giving him the freedom to jump
unsupervised.

In the wake of the man's death, the APF is reviewing its safety procedures.

"We understand that this person has gone to considerable length to circumvent the drop zone
procedures to facilitate his own demise," Mr Windsor said.

The man had worn two correctly packed parachutes - believed to be his own - but had not
pulled either ripcord during his descent, he said.

The dead man did not have an automatic parachute deployment devic. He had managed to be the
last one out of the plane so he was the furtherest from the drop zone.

Mr Windsor said the man had also arranged the incident so it would not be noticed for some
time, hiding the note in gear that was routinely left at the skydiving clubhouse in
Toogoolawah during the week.

The man would have jumped out of the plane at 4,000 metres and been travelling at about
220kph on impact, he said.

Toogoolawah police said the matter would go to a coronial inquiry.

AAP bja/ah/mo/de

KEYWORD: PARACHUTIST SECOND NIGHTLEAD

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