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Parachuter miraculously survives 12000ft fall
News by Norlander

Parachuter miraculously survives 12,000ft fall with failed parachute.


A British skydiver had a lucky escape when he became entangled in his parachute while skydiving from a plane at 12,000 feet.

Michael Holmes, from Jersey, was videoing a group of other skydivers on the freefall over New Zealand when his parachute failed to deploy properly.

As he descended he spiralled out of control and eventually landed in a blackberry bush where he was found unconscious.

Mr Holmes, who is in his 20s, landed at Five Mile Bay, just a few hundred yards from Lake Taupo, the largest lake in New Zealand.

Emergency services were called by horrified onlookers who watched Mr Holmes crash into rough scrubland in a nature reserve, less than 100 yards from a car park.

He was airlifted to hospital where he was found to have escaped serious injury, suffering a broken ankle and a lung injury.

John Siddles and his 18-year-old son Adam Kendall were at a nearby lookout watching the parachutists and couldn't believe their eyes when they saw one in trouble.

"One of the skydivers coming down was going round and round and he looked like he was all tangled up or something,"Mr Siddles said.

"It looked like his chute had partially opened, but it's hard to say."

Hamish Funnell, the manager of the Great Lake Skydiving Centre, which employs Mr Holmes as an instructor, said Mr Holmes was recovering in hospital after the accident.

Mr Funnell said he had visited him in hospital and said that he found him "cracking jokes and hassling the nurses". The New Zealand Parachute Industry Association has launched a preliminary investigation into the accident and the Civil Aviation Authority has indicated it will be taking a look at the parachute industry association's report after the inquiry.

Mr Holmes has worked for the company, which is based in the tourist resort town of Taupo, since he arrived in New Zealand three years ago.

Taupo, set in the North Island's picturesque volcanic zone, is popular with tourists wanting to try extreme sports and several skydiving companies operate from the airport.

In January 2003, a 25-year-old Welsh tourist was taken to hospital with serious leg and arm injuries after a skydiving accident there.

After the incident, Mr Siddles, who had been watching the parachutists with his son, Adam, said: "We decided it's not for us".

Story from
This is London.

---
12000ft is one looooong drop and it's a miracle that he survived, even if it's not unheard of that people survive drops like this. I guess he'll start to sing praise to blackberry bushes.

Was reading this story and could not help but wonder how come it's the best skydivers that end up in trouble. Read elsewhere that this guy came in 10th in the Skydiving World Championship and has over 7000 jumps under his belt.

And that made me remember various stories vuzman told about world champion skydivers in Sweden...anyhow one incredibly lucky guy!

Comments
Grizlas on December 22 2006 12:46:41
blackberry bush huh? Cant be the softest thing in the world smiley

I suppose he survived cause his chute was partially opened and slowed his decent somewhat.
Jogvanth on December 22 2006 14:27:31
And the moral of the story must be: Don't jump out of a perfectly fine airplane! smiley
Vuzman on December 22 2006 14:47:37
The best skydivers get into trouble because they push the limits; their own limits and their equipment's limits.

However, since this guy was just filming others and probably not doing any dare devil stunts, I think he just got extremely unlucky to have his primary chute block the reserve chute (followed by a bit of extreme luck at the end smiley )
Grizlas on December 22 2006 14:57:05
Extreme bad luck + extreme good luck = average day smiley
Torellion on December 22 2006 15:03:20
These kind of articles really annoy me. According to the article the event doesn't seem to be that dramatic. But the headline Parachuter miraculously survives 12000ft fall is written to get people's attention. Can't the reporters just report the news without creative editing and misleading headlines?
Roffen on December 24 2006 16:24:40
At least, he didn't land in a cactus!

My average day does not include a freefall from 12.000 feet! smiley
Jogvanth on December 24 2006 17:42:49
What sane individual will state that falling 12.000 (Yes, twelve-THOUSAND) feet (aprox. 4 kilometres) trough the air with a messed up parachute, as not being dramatic? smiley

I would call surviving a fall of more than 30 feet as lucky. 300 feet as a miracle. I can't even fathom 12.000 feet.
Norlander on December 25 2006 06:43:58
More over it is now estimated that his speed was between 120 and 160 kmh while he spiralled like a "roman candle" to the ground...sure is dramatic and sensational that somebody survives hitting the ground at aprox 120 kmh.

More on the story from the Daily Record
Torellion on December 25 2006 13:58:58
He fell 12000 feet yes, but this was all according to plan. Then he pulled his chute according to plan and because of some entanglement he spiralled to the ground with more speed than intendet. Spiralling, however, means that he had some lift from his faulty chute. Also, his injuries are minor and later he is described as joking with the nurses etc. So I wonder how much lift he actually lost as a result of the entanglement and how much of the story is creative editing. If he broke every bone in his body or his chute didn't open at all, I would be more enthusiastic about the the whole thing.

And Norlander, I can't get the link to work.
Norlander on December 25 2006 14:28:05
The whole thing is caught on tape, which I assume is why several newspapers reporting him to fall with 120 to 160 kmh into the bush...
Roffen on December 26 2006 18:00:35
haha... I got curious... I did mention I was glad he didn't land in a cactii...

So I had this idea to do a search on a Blackberry bush... I found this picture http://www.briansgarden.com/pictures/Rubus_fruticosus.jpg...

It's full of bloody thorns! smiley
Jogvanth on January 19 2007 14:19:14
I'd like to see Torellion jump out of an airplane on purpose, with a 'chute that would give him just enough lift to be traveling 120 km/h towards the Earth, on purpose, and then have him describe it as "not dramatic"!smiley
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Obituaries
You must login to post a message.

Grizlas
24/12/2023 15:06
Gleðilig jól

Norlander
24/12/2023 10:09
Gleðilig jól!

Norlander
29/10/2023 19:16
:/

Grizlas
29/10/2023 11:35
RIP Matthew Perry.

Norlander
25/08/2023 19:22
That's not from the chess scene, it's Omar to Wee Bay, 2 mins into this clip: https://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=LF0Xt6b525E


Vuzman
25/08/2023 18:11
That chess scene is forever seared into my memory...

Norlander
24/08/2023 20:03
You quoting the Wire, wow smiley

Vuzman
24/08/2023 08:56
You come at the king, you best not miss... RIP Prigozhin

OKJones
10/08/2023 21:29
the search function doesn't work, it doesn't show what it finds

Vuzman
10/08/2023 16:34
RIP Sugar Man