John Agnos's latest accident

[Erol]

Anyone know anything about John Agnos's accident Oct 27th 05.

[hanoverfist]

i know he was hanging from wires when i went to bed and hanging from wires when i woke up. then complaining about how long it took to rescue him when i got to work. and blah blah blah, but i don't know what actually happened to him. maybe there will be an interview in circus magazine or on leno, blah blah blah blah blah

[Johnny Utah]

Anyone know anything about John Agnos's accident Oct 27th 05.

Here is a post made by John Agnos in response to a flame thread from another forum.
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Re: [RhondaLea] John Agnos Discussion [In reply to]

My Name is John Agnos
First, I would like to apologize to whom it may concern for bringing any
attention to the day I jumped the guy wire tower. It was meant to be a very
private day for me. Unfortunately due to poor judgment that day I had an
accident. I have 90 base jumps which I've done in two years, 2 of which I
displayed poor judgment and almost died. Base jumping has been the greatest experiences of my life, ever making me humble beyond what I ever thought I could be. As far as the interview, I am sorry I ever said anything, it was all said off the cuff the next morning. I've never had that happen before. As far as my tattoos are concerned, they have deep meaning for me, that's all. Secondly, I would like to address my 911 call. It was definitely a horrifying experience. After I hit the guy wire, my canopy slid a long distance down it snapping more than half my lines as I went. I did what I had to do to prepare to die. I was hanging from less then half of my lines. I thought that was the end for me and it was a sad moment in my life. I've learned from my mistakes. And I hope that any and all of you will never have anybody smearing you or laughing at you if you have a near death experience. I would never be at that level; I would comfort any fellow human being in their moment of despair.

Some of you have wondered about my background. I am not new to Parachutes. I've been skydiving 13yrs, I've made 1,500 skydives with no injuries. I competed at the 2000 nationals on the Perris 16 way team which we placed 3rd. I've been on multiple Nevada records and California records. On Sept 10, 2001, I put on fund raiser skydiving for the kids and raised 27,000 for children's hosp in Oakland, we made 60 jumps a piece in 9 hours.

NickDG, I realize that you did not start this thread and you have the decency to at least say that you are not going to judge me without even knowing me. It was an accident and I was not being malicious. I screwed up on the jump. I did that interview just after getting out of bed the morning after the accident and I meant no more harm. If I had more time to think of what to say, maybe I would have said things better or not done the interview at all. I have learned from that and I am sorry for making comments that were bad for public perception.

RhondaLea, you seem very judgmental and what I heard here in nor-cal is
that you have only made a few jumps years ago so why are you making such rude statements about something that you are not experienced at. I have not had 3 accidents in a row. I made 58 jumps before the Nevada accident and then 32 after that before I hit the guy wire on my 90th jump.

Tom Aiello, you started this discussion and you should not be talking either. I remember how you got banned for life from Lodi and also your Base jumping accidents and early reputation for displaying reckless and poor judgment. I have had 2 Base jumping accidents unfortunately, but you had 3 accidents in 3 years when you started Base jumping as a result of bad judgment. The first one was when you almost went in jumping the Perrine because you did not throw your pilot chute in time, and you spent a long time in the hospital and had to walk around with a colostomy bag for a long time. Then you jumped a cliff in Arizona doing what the locals there told you not to do trying to out track a talus and they told you not to try it. You sniveled into the talus and busted yourself up real bad causing a dangerous rescue and another hospital stay. Then you got busted up again jumping the big cliff in Italy in bad conditions. I don't think you should be trying to smear me when you have a worse accident record than I do.

To everybody, I apologize for screwing up on the jump, causing negative news, and for making comments to the news that were not thought out well. I have learned a lot from this. I know I have a lot to learn still.


BASE #1039
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Here is an aticle from the Sacramento Bee about the incident.
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Hung up in danger,despair
BASE jumper's birthday stunt goes awry; now he may pay for it.

By M.S. Enkoji -- Bee Staff Writer
Published 2:15 am PDT Saturday, October 29, 2005
Story appeared in Metro section, Page B1

Something went wrong with John Agnos' 41st birthday party.
And pretty soon, firefighters from miles around were standing underneath him, pondering his dangling figure snared on a wire 200 feet above ground. "We don't usually come across scenarios like this," said Niko King, battalion chief for the Sacramento Fire Department. What rescuers had on their hands was a BASE jumper, someone who partakes in an extreme sport that involves leaping from high places with a parachute. And a lot of luck.

Agnos was attempting to celebrate his birthday Thursday evening by swan diving off a 2,000-foot television tower in Walnut Grove and poofing down softly with a parachute. But he apparently miscalculated guy wires running off the tower and his chute tangled in them, leaving him strung up like a trussed chicken. After nearly four hours and some aerial derring-do by one firefighter, Agnos was back on terra firma and bound for a hospital with minor injuries. It was no picnic for rescuers, either.

By Friday, several fire departments and other rescue agencies were dragging out their calculators to tally up exactly what Agnos' botched stunt cost in time and effort. Note to Mr. Agnos: They are not amused. "He really taxed the taxpayers last night," said Sacramento County Undersheriff John McGinness. "For what? A thrill?"

McGinness promises to throw the book at Agnos, which he regrets is pretty light: a misdemeanor for trespassing on private property is the heaviest charge available. In addition, Agnos can expect a bill in the mail, once the costs are calculated. The enormous cost involving four fire departments, helicopters from the California Highway Patrol and Sonoma County and a rescue agency is one issue, McGinness said. The other is how the bizarre rescue tapped resources that might have been needed elsewhere, he said. The Sacramento Fire Department alone sent five people and four vehicles.

Agnos, of Hayward, couldn't be reached Friday. His father, John Agnos Sr. of Colorado Springs, Colo., said his son called him before his jump Thursday night and promised to call when he was finished. By Friday evening, the elder Agnos had not yet heard from his son. "When I didn't hear, I knew something was wrong," the father said. His son was in Colorado earlier this month and slipped and fell while climbing a cliff that he had planned to jump from, the father said. He sprained his ankle.

BASE comes from an acronym for building, antenna, span and earth - fixed locations that jumpers launch from for a short skydive without aircraft. Spans are bridges and earth refers to cliffs. Jumpers aim to do all four. Banned in some countries, BASE jumping is controversial because participants sometimes use unauthorized locations. And they sometimes get hurt or die jumping from locations near buildings or cliffs with little room to maneuver safely.

Guinness World Records recognizes the highest BASE jump - 19,300 feet in the Karakoram mountains of Pakistan in 1992 - but for legal reasons won't acknowledge jumps off buildings.

Thursday night, Agnos apparently was able to get on a cell phone and call for help when he found himself high and dry about 7 p.m. Rescuers huddled for a few minutes to consider how best to get Agnos down as he beseeched them to hurry up, King said.

Three of Agnos' friends - whom he called with his cell phone - arrived after firefighters and began videotaping the rescue. They told Sacramento County sheriff's deputies that Agnos, a construction worker, has jumped from the tower before. They said he crushed his feet and his spine during a jump last year from a Las Vegas casino. Agnos' chute didn't open until the last few feet, his father said. "It's a miracle he survived." The younger Agnos now has a titanium rod in his back. John Agnos Sr. said his son is a veteran sky diver and just started BASE jumping last year. While the father respects his son's love of the sport, it's trying for him. "I just don't like it," he said.

Thursday night, a special rescue helicopter flew in from Sonoma County, but the pilot decided it was too risky to dip low among the wires and pull Agnos up. Next option: Sending a firefighter up the tower to hook up with Agnos. Likewise, too risky. The third option seemed like an engineer's nightmare. By slackening a guy line near Agnos, a firefighter could be attached to it and raised up to Agnos. No equipment for that.

In the end, it fell to John Clark, 33, of the Sacramento Fire Department to scramble up a ladder for the first 100 feet. That was the easy part. Then he attached himself with ropes and a harness to the wire and slowly pulled himself up, taking an hour to scale 80 feet, King said. Then Clark attached a pulley to the wire, which was used to lower Agnos safely after he cut himself from his tangled parachute. Clark followed him down the same way at nearly midnight.

Agnos turned "extremely cooperative" once Clark inched his way up toward him. Once on the ground, he praised firefighters. Clark, who is specially trained for unusual rescues, said Friday the high-wire rescue taxed him. "My legs are killing me," he said. "I can't imagine how he (Agnos) feels being up there that long," Clark said.

Agnos, who apparently checked out of the hospital Friday morning, has some unfinished business in Sacramento County. He will have to appear in court in November on the misdemeanor trespassing charge.


About the writer:
The Bee's M.S. Enkoji can be reached at (916) 321-1106 or menkoji@sacbee.com. Bee Staff Writer Edgar Sanchez contributed to this report.
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Sounds like he learned from it.....hopefully he did.

[Zodiac]

John, it is time quit. You are very likely to make another unfortunate "poor judgement" and, well, it might be the last. Are you phisically and mentally capable/qualified to BASE, does not look like. I don't know man, at least a very long break from it would be healthy for you and the rest of the BASE community that will be directly affected by your "poor judgements/actions".

[Grace]

I have never base jumped YET, and am quite new to sky diving also, - so many of you may wonder what would I know?? I remember after my very first sky dive, a bus driver told me that the majority of deaths and major accidents happen to those with over 1,000 jumps under their belt. It is easy to make mistakes when you have been desensetised to the danger involved, in an attempt to reach that next goal. I am a Personal Trainer by day, and even in my profession, those with the worst injurys are training at very high "athletes" levels. I know that the stats on sky diving are quite interesting - One in every 75,000 jumps will result in fatality. It is safer for me to sky dive to work than it is to drive. I'm not sure what the stats are for BASE jumping, but it would not surprise me if it were similar. The fact is that although BASE jumping may be seen as a dangerous sport, (or at least is portrayed that way) the safety precausions taken are very seriously executed. Accidents will always happen, no matter what. We can only continue to be vigilant when it comes to safety, to protect an amazing sport. Hang loose!!!

[Faber]

Grace
I think you posted in a wrong forum.
This is a BASE forum.

BASE is more dangerus than skydiving and might aswell than driving to work.

Before considdering BASe please learn more about skydiving first..

I esitmate than thouse who are most prone to die or get hurt in both sports will be in the 100-500jumps range
but thats just me..
and im not home free yet

[scm007]

If that statistic is correct, it is probably because those with over 1000 jumps jump all the time... eventually it might catch up to them. It is the same in any sport with objective dangers. A person who makes 1 jump in their whole life has a much better chance of surviving than someone who makes 10,000.