Skydiving quadriplegic plunges to death in Montana
by Scott on Aug.02, 2011, under News
Skydiving quadriplegic plunges to death in Montana – Yahoo! News.
A quadriplegic skydiver plunged 18,000 feet to his death because he was unable to manually deploy his parachute, and his emergency chute was not set to automatically release, authorities said on Monday.
Jack Fogle, 27, of Kingston, Washington, died Saturday afternoon just minutes after he and seven others launched themselves from a plane during a celebrated skydiving event in northwest Montana that drew scores of parachutists, said Flathead County Undersheriff Jordan White.
Fogle, a veteran of 125 jumps over five years, was hampered by his physical disability from manually activating his primary parachute and was likely counting on his backup chute to deploy. He hit the ground from a fall estimated at 120 miles per hour, White said.
Investigators drew their conclusions from video of Fogle and statements by skydiving partners. An examination of Fogle’s equipment showed no malfunctions, suggesting the skydiver failed to properly set a device that would have caused his reserve parachute to open on its own.
