Franklin County skydiving accident 'could have been a lot worse,' school owner says
It is not clear what caused a skydiver to lose control in the air before landing in the woods near Chambersburg Skydiving Center on Saturday, but center owner J.R. Sides said he knows for a fact that the man's parachute did open.
"It sure could have been a whole lot worse," Sides said on Tuesday, refreshed from taking a day to himself Monday after the hectic weekend.
The skydiver was doing what the skydiving world calls "accelerated free-fall," one of three training methods through which novice skydivers can get certified to do solo jumps, according to the United States Parachute Association. Two instructors were holding onto him on either side — not strapped to him like in a tandem jump — and they completed some maneuvers while in free-fall before each launched their own parachute, Sides said.
As the instructors descended toward the designated landing zone, they saw their trainee flying away toward the woods on the other side of the open space where the skydiving center operates at Franklin County Regional Airport. The man descended through the trees and landed on railroad tracks behind Norland Cemetery in the 2000 block of Philadelphia Avenue.
Fire department and emergency personnel responded to the scene about 1 p.m. Specialized vehicles were used to find the skydiver, who suffered a broken leg, and rescue him from the densely wooded area just north of Chambersburg. A WellSpan Health medical helicopter flew him to WellSpan York Hospital.
Sides said the skydiver's parachute and all other equipment were examined afterward and found to be functioning properly. Several witnesses on the ground and in the air, including experienced skydivers, reported that the parachute was open and nothing appeared to be wrong before the skydiver flew in the wrong direction.
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As of now, it seems like the incident was the result of user error, Sides said. He added that except for a brief phone conversation with the victim to check on his well-being after he was hospitalized with a broken leg, he has yet to talk to the skydiver about what he experienced in the air and doesn't want to judge him unfairly.
He compared it to a single-vehicle crash in that sometimes something just goes wrong.
Saturday's jump was the man's third, Sides said.
Chambersburg Skydiving Center has hosted millions of jumps over its decades in operation and injuries are rare, Sides said. He has done 16,000 jumps over the years.
"Education is the thing about all of this. We want people to understand this is not a death-cheating sport. This is about having a good time."
Amber South can be reached at asouth@publicopinionnews.com.
This article originally appeared on Chambersburg Public Opinion: Chambersburg Skydiving Center owner speaks on skydiver's accident
