Date: October 6, 2012 Nationality: American
Object Type: Earth
Location: Notch Peak, Utah
COD: Strike (Canopy)
Clothes / Suit: WingSuit
Description:
"This is information that I received from jumpers on the scene:"
Sean's was the first of a two way and had an effective launch. The first half of his flight appeared normal with adequate forward speed. During the last half of his flight he appeared to lose speed and seemed to be sinking out. He changed his flight path slightly in an attempt to maintain altitude above a gully and kept flying towards the main landing area. After deploying his pilot chute the canopy inflated with a left off heading of about 140+ degrees and after a few seconds he disappeared from sight into the gully and behind a cliff band.
By the time Sean was located by other members of the group he had already passed.
Sean had recently changed wingsuits and within the weeks prior to his accident fellow jumpers had noticed he was not maximizing the new suit's performance. Sean was known as a safe and conservative jumper and his passing was a shock to many who knew him.
In this day and age of rapidly evolving wingsuit technology and the boundaries of free flight constantly expanding, pilots need to be aware of their personal capabilities. Wingsuit base jumpers should not venture away from forgiving objects before they have a substantial history of stable, precise and fast flights appropriate to the performance of their chosen suit. Stalling, short or inconsistent flights should be understood as indicators of more training on forgiving objects or better yet from airplanes.
Be aware of your capabilities
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