Monday, December 8, 2008

Skydiver with damaged parachute saved by avocados - Breaking News - MiamiHerald.com

  Rafael Sarria  A sky diver with parachute problems missed his mark and landed in a Southwest Miami-Dade avocado grove Sunday, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue said.

Fire Rescue crews said they found him with serious injuries but still in good spirits. The rescuers rushed the 27-year-old to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami for treatment.

Fire Rescue said officials at Sky Dive Miami told them the sky diver jumped out of an airplane that morning at an altitude of almost 13,000 feet. But as he jumped, the parachute snagged, fire rescue said, damaging both the plane and the parachute.

The damaged parachute meant the man descended faster than normal, fire rescue said. He crashed into an avocado grove near Southwest 212th Avenue and 296th Street.

The plane landed safely.

Firefighters found the man in the grove. But that presented a problem: how to get their rescue equipment into the grove.

Ultimately, Fire Rescue said they hauled the rescue and medical equipment about 300 yards by foot.

Paramedics reached the man and worked to stabilize him. He was taken to Jackson by helicopter.

via Skydiver with damaged parachute saved by avocados - Breaking News - MiamiHerald.com.

1 comment:

Zhukov said...

What a terrible article. Clearly written by someone with no skydiving experience or capacity for inquisitive reporting.

How did the parachute "snag" on the aircraft at 13,000 feet unless he deployed his canopy while still in the door of the plane? If his parachute was damaged, why did he not deploy his reserve? And what kind of half-baked rescue team considers a 300 yard walk a "problem"?

And as for the title, How was he "saved by avocados"?

Maybe the Miami Herald let its high-school interns write articles these days...