Australian skydiver’s parachute became caught on plane tail 15,000 feet in the air, video shows

By Max Saltman, CNN

(CNN) — Video released by Australia’s transport safety agency on Thursday shows the harrowing moment when a skydiver’s parachute was caught on the tail of an airplane before a jump in September.

According to the report from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) released alongside the video, the skydiver, whom the report identifies as “P1,” managed to disentangle themselves with a specialized tool called a hook knife before landing with minor injuries.

“Carrying a hook knife – although it is not a regulatory requirement – could be lifesaving in the event of a premature reserve parachute deployment,” said the ATSB Chief Commissioner Angus Mitchell in an agency press release.

The ATSB report says that the skydiver was about 15,000 feet in the air above Queensland with 16 other parachutists when the accident occurred. The skydiver was about to jump from the airplane when their reserve parachute’s handle “snagged on the wing flap and rotated.”

The parachute immediately inflated, the report says, dragging the skydiver backwards and knocking a fellow parachutist who was perched next to them “into freefall.”

The orange parachute became tangled around the plane’s tail, the report continues, and “P1 was then suspended beneath the tailplane.”

“The pilot recalled feeling the aircraft suddenly pitch up, and observed the airspeed rapidly decreasing,” Mitchell said in the ATSB press release.

The pilot initially believed the aircraft had stalled, Mitchell continued, “but upon being told there was a skydiver hung up on the tailplane, they reduced power again.”

Fearing that the aircraft was about to crash, the pilot worked hard to regain full control of the plane. One of the crew members aboard directed the other parachutists to exit for their own safety, and 13 jumped with two remaining to watch the trapped skydiver free themselves.

Meanwhile, the trapped skydiver began cutting at their reserve parachute’s lines with a hook knife. The report notes it took just under a minute for the skydiver to cut 11 cords, and the skydiver later told ATSB investigators that it was “harder” than they expected.

After the remaining skydivers in the plane jumped for their own safety, the report continues, the pilot “looked over their shoulder and saw the parachute remnant wrapped over the tail and the damage to the leading edge of the horizontal stabilizer.”

Radioing for assistance, the report says that the pilot, who had a parachute of their own, told air traffic control they were prepared to “bail out” of the plane if the “tail fell off.”

There was no need. The report says that the pilot was able to land safely at Tully Airport in Queensland, though the skydiver’s legs hitting the tail had caused “substantial damage” to the stabilizer.

CNN has reached out to the Far North Freefall Club, which had organized the skydiving expedition, for comment.

Dan Brodsky-Chenfeld, a world champion skydiver, told CNN on Thursday that he had heard of similar incidents in the past, but had personally never seen a parachute become entangled with an airplane before a dive.

What makes this case unique, Brodsky-Chenfeld said, is that the reserve parachute deployed, rather than the main parachute. Normally one would “cut away” the chute using a special release system, but that is not possible with reserve parachutes.

“It was a little more complicated,” Brodsky-Chenfeld explained. “You can’t cut away a reserve parachute. The reserve parachute is there to stay. Your only option at that point is to use your hook knife and cut the lines off until you can release from there.”

Sarah Fien, the investigator-in-charge on the incident, reiterated in a video posted by the ATSB on Youtube that hook knives can be “lifesaving” devices in incidents like these.

The report notes that the Far North Freefall Club has mandated divers to carry hook knives and will include footage of the accident in training seminars.

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