Instructors from Menifee, San Diego collided in midair
Federal investigators will examine the parachutes of two men who collided and plunged to their deaths during a sky dive over a Perris airport, a spokesman said Friday.
Patrick James McGowan II, a sky-diving instructor who had made more than 17,000 jumps, and Christopher David Stasky died Thursday when their parachutes collided and deflated and they plunged 200 to 300 feet to the ground of Perris Valley Airport.
"We will look at the parachutes to make sure they were properly packed by a certified parachute rigger," said Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.
Witnesses said both parachutes were open when the collision occurred.
McGowan, 42, of Menifee, and Stasky, 42, of San Diego were training parachute instructors for the Canadian military at the time of the fatal jump, said Scott Smith, an instructor at Skydive Perris and Western regional director of the U.S. Parachute Association.
Smith said he, McGowan and Stasky had gone up to 12,000 feet as part of a group of 22 sky-divers that included both military and recreational jumpers, Smith said.
They jumped out two at a time, and McGowan and Stasky probably opened their canopies at about 3,000 feet, Smith said.
"They were under good, open parachutes," he said.
Witnesses heard the noise of their collision.
"When people saw them, they were at about 300 feet, entangled," Smith said.
Smith, who jumped after McGowan, said he didn't see the collision, but he did see the aftermath.
"I saw one person giving CPR (to someone on the ground) and kind of knew what happened," he said.
Some of the military jumpers had medical knowledge and were aiding McGowan and Stasky within a minute, but it was too late to save them, Smith said.
Both men were experienced instructors, he said.
McGowan, who had a wife and two children, had been with Skydive Perris for about 20 years.
"He was very safety-conscious," Smith said.
"It jolts you. I guess you say it's a wake-up call," he said of the accident. "It makes you realize that none of us are bulletproof."
McGowan was a graduate of Hemet Senior High School.
Friends and family gathered at McGowan's home in Menifee on Friday. His brother, Matthew McGowan, was grief-stricken and tearful. He said their father had died in recent months.
Patrick McGowan's devotion to his family was evident on his Facebook page.
"I am passionate about my family my life and my friends," it reads. "I absolutely love every moment with my family."
Stasky worked at Tactical Air Operations in Jamul in San Diego County, where he was a master parachute packer and an instructor in military and recreational jumps. He had nine years of sky-diving experience and had made more than 3,500 jumps, according to the company's website.
"He was a great guy. Highly proficient and very well-liked," Tactical's owner, Buzz Fink, told The San Diego Union-Tribune.
Thousands of sky-divers head to the Perris area every year for instruction and competitions. Eight people have died in jumps in the Perris area in the past decade. They include a Russian sky-diver who vanished during a September jump. His body was found last December in a field. His parachute had not deployed.
In 1992, 16 people died when a plane full of sky-divers plunged to the ground after takeoff at Perris Valley Airport. It was one of the worst accidents in sky-diving history.
The U.S. Parachute Association recorded 21 fatal sky-diving accidents in the United States last year, down from an average of nearly 26 annual deaths from 2000 to 2009.
The parachuting website Dropzone com estimated unofficially that there were 56 parachuting deaths around the world last year and 16 percent of those deaths involved collisions. There were six deaths reported so far this year, most of them in North America. Two of those people died in a collision.
"Canopy collisions is one of the No. 1 killers today in the sport," Smith said.
"Sky-diving is a sport that's as safe as you make it, but there's inherent risks when you're flying anything above the ground ... We try to do anything we can to minimize that," he said.
Smith said McGowan and Stasky were using modern, streamlined parachutes that can move forward at 30 to 40 mph as they drop.
That speed can make a collision deadlier than one involving older-style chutes that dropped more slowly, Smith said.
"It's like the difference between having a collision in a 20-mph school zone versus ... the freeway," Smith said.
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Patrick James McGowan II, a sky-diving instructor who had made more than 17,000 jumps, and Christopher David Stasky died Thursday when their parachutes collided and deflated and they plunged 200 to 300 feet to the ground of Perris Valley Airport.
"We will look at the parachutes to make sure they were properly packed by a certified parachute rigger," said Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.
Witnesses said both parachutes were open when the collision occurred.
McGowan, 42, of Menifee, and Stasky, 42, of San Diego were training parachute instructors for the Canadian military at the time of the fatal jump, said Scott Smith, an instructor at Skydive Perris and Western regional director of the U.S. Parachute Association.
Smith said he, McGowan and Stasky had gone up to 12,000 feet as part of a group of 22 sky-divers that included both military and recreational jumpers, Smith said.
They jumped out two at a time, and McGowan and Stasky probably opened their canopies at about 3,000 feet, Smith said.
"They were under good, open parachutes," he said.
Witnesses heard the noise of their collision.
"When people saw them, they were at about 300 feet, entangled," Smith said.
Smith, who jumped after McGowan, said he didn't see the collision, but he did see the aftermath.
"I saw one person giving CPR (to someone on the ground) and kind of knew what happened," he said.
Some of the military jumpers had medical knowledge and were aiding McGowan and Stasky within a minute, but it was too late to save them, Smith said.
Both men were experienced instructors, he said.
McGowan, who had a wife and two children, had been with Skydive Perris for about 20 years.
"He was very safety-conscious," Smith said.
"It jolts you. I guess you say it's a wake-up call," he said of the accident. "It makes you realize that none of us are bulletproof."
McGowan was a graduate of Hemet Senior High School.
Friends and family gathered at McGowan's home in Menifee on Friday. His brother, Matthew McGowan, was grief-stricken and tearful. He said their father had died in recent months.
Patrick McGowan's devotion to his family was evident on his Facebook page.
"I am passionate about my family my life and my friends," it reads. "I absolutely love every moment with my family."
Stasky worked at Tactical Air Operations in Jamul in San Diego County, where he was a master parachute packer and an instructor in military and recreational jumps. He had nine years of sky-diving experience and had made more than 3,500 jumps, according to the company's website.
"He was a great guy. Highly proficient and very well-liked," Tactical's owner, Buzz Fink, told The San Diego Union-Tribune.
Thousands of sky-divers head to the Perris area every year for instruction and competitions. Eight people have died in jumps in the Perris area in the past decade. They include a Russian sky-diver who vanished during a September jump. His body was found last December in a field. His parachute had not deployed.
In 1992, 16 people died when a plane full of sky-divers plunged to the ground after takeoff at Perris Valley Airport. It was one of the worst accidents in sky-diving history.
The U.S. Parachute Association recorded 21 fatal sky-diving accidents in the United States last year, down from an average of nearly 26 annual deaths from 2000 to 2009.
The parachuting website Dropzone com estimated unofficially that there were 56 parachuting deaths around the world last year and 16 percent of those deaths involved collisions. There were six deaths reported so far this year, most of them in North America. Two of those people died in a collision.
"Canopy collisions is one of the No. 1 killers today in the sport," Smith said.
"Sky-diving is a sport that's as safe as you make it, but there's inherent risks when you're flying anything above the ground ... We try to do anything we can to minimize that," he said.
Smith said McGowan and Stasky were using modern, streamlined parachutes that can move forward at 30 to 40 mph as they drop.
That speed can make a collision deadlier than one involving older-style chutes that dropped more slowly, Smith said.
"It's like the difference between having a collision in a 20-mph school zone versus ... the freeway," Smith said.
Adrenaline Rush (IMAX) (2 - Disc WMVHD Edition)
Exterior Ballistics with Applications: Skydiving, Parachute Fall, Flying Fragments
550Lb Camo Nylon 100 Ft Cord
