A FREAK wind was responsible for today’s skydiving accident at Goulburn Airport, says a chief instructor.
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Yaakov Bokay was watching the pair descend. They were one of two tandems that jumped from the plane.
“It happened about five to 10 metres from the ground,” he told journalists.
“Everything was perfect and a wind gust, a willy-willy, came up and collapsed the canopy and both dropped to the ground.”
Mr Bokay said the instructor was extremely experienced, and a regular with the company.
“This is a very sad day for us,” he said.
“He was part of the family.”
Mr Bokay said there was no relationship between the instructor and the injured boy.
He told the Post instructors assessed conditions at the start of and during the day to ensure safety. Skydivers could land in 25 knot winds, but this afternoon it was only blowing at 12 knots, he said. If not for the freak gust, the accident would not have happened.
The other tandem had also caught the edge of the gust but managed to get away.
In February, 2014, a man in his thirties suffered a broken pelvis and spine after falling heavily from a skydive onto a soiled bank.
Asked whether he was concerned about the operation’s safety, Mr Bokay said in this instance the man had simply “landed awkwardly.”
“We are doing a lot of training on our safety standards,” he said.
