Belgian plane crash 'kills 11 near Namur

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19 October 2013Last updated at 18:07 ET

Belgian plane crash 'kills 11 near Namur

The light aircraft came down minutes after take-off, near a residential area

At least 10 people have been killed after a small tourist plane crashed near the city of Namur in south-east Belgium.
It was carrying a group of skydivers and crashed shortly after take-off, killing all those on board, the local mayor has told the AFP news agency.
The plane is thought to have taken off from the Temploux aerodrome and crashed around 10 minutes later in a field.

Its wing appeared to have suffered some damage, Belgian media report.
The small plane came down near the village of Marchovelette, 10km (six miles) from Namur.
The passengers did not have time to jump out, the mayor of the nearby town of Fernelmont told AFP.
Pictures show black smoke billowing from a burnt-out fuselage.
"I just saw a plane lose its right wing in mid-flight and crash. I heard a massive 'bang' towards the south of Marchovelette," one witness told Belgian television.
"I didn't see anyone escape with a parachute," the witness added.

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Kenneth Ryan Bernek, Michigan Skydiver, Dies During Maneuver, Hits Bystander

The Huffington Post | By Ashley Woods Posted: 10/14/2013 1:33 pm EDT

Kenneth Ryan Bernek was an experienced skydiver.

But when he took to the air to practice a risky maneuver called "swooping," the 34-year-old veteran parachutist fell, collided with a bystander and died on Sunday.

Members of the Midwest Freefall Sport Parachute Club were jumping from a plane onto a grass airstrip on Kunstman Road near Romeo Plank Road in Ray Township, Mich., the Macomb Daily reported.

The New York Daily News said that other members of the plane were ascending to 14,000 feet to practice their jumps. But Bernek, who the paper said had logged 1,800 dives since he began skydiving 15 years ago, bailed out at 5,000 feet.

He wanted to practice canopy piloting, or swooping. That's when skydivers fly close to the ground at high speeds, ABC News reported. It's a test of skill, reflexes and accuracy -- and it's quite dangerous. Using a parachute that's smaller and lighter than that of regular skydivers, a swooper can achieve speeds of 90 miles per hour near the ground.

The Macomb Daily said that Bernek, who lives in Waterford Township., fell out of control around 6:20 p.m. The paper said he hit a tree before colliding with a pedestrian standing near the landing zone.

"It was not immediately clear why the female victim was in the landing zone," the paper reported.

"The dive that he executed was a little too low and as a result he impacted the ground prematurely," parachute club Manager Randy Allison told the New York Daily News.

EMS crews raced to the scene and performed CPR on Bernek after the accident, the Macomb Daily said. He later died at the hospital. The 53-year-old pedestrian was hospitalized with minor injuries as a precaution, WXYZ reported.

Ray Township Assistant Fire Chief Cecil Schoenherr told the Macomb Daily that the Midwest Freefall Sport Parachute Club already had another accident this season.

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Skydiver Falls To Death After Becoming Entangled In Parachute During Multiple Person Maneuver 05/26/13 02:39 PM ET EDT AP

LAKE ELSINORE, Calif. -- Authorities say a 62-year-old skydiver has died after plummeting into a Southern California backyard.

San Diego cites a preliminary investigation report that finds a group of skydivers were trying a multiple person maneuver over Riverside County on Saturday when one of them became entangled in a parachute.

The man was unable to free himself and fell to the ground.

Police found him in the backyard of a Lake Elsinore home. He was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The man was identified as Ken Oka of Mira Loma.

The newspaper says police and the Federal Aviation Administration are conducting independent investigations.

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Skydiving Accident Caught On Camera In Pennsylvania

Posted: 05/16/2012 1:18 pm

Woman's First Skydiving Trip Ends In Accident


An unexpected updraft sent a woman and her instructor crashing to the ground in a freak skydiving accident caught on camera over the weekend.

When the unidentified woman took her first dive at the Keystone Skydive Center in Collegeville, nothing led her to believe she was in danger. She was in tandem with her instructor, Chad Galbraith, and most of the dive ran smoothly.

But at about 30 feet above the ground, the wind compromised the parachute, according to WPVI. An updraft caught the parachute and yanked the pair up another 40 feet.

"All of a sudden, the updraft stopped and the wind came from the side. It folded the parachute underneath and put the parachute into a spin," said Marc Nadeau, a worker at the skydive center.
"They landed hard on their side into the grass and were dragged into the runway. At that time the instructor was able to jettison -- cut away -- the main parachute to keep themselves from being dragged any further."

Galbraith was taken to the hospital with a serious lower back injury and underwent two surgeries this week. The first-time jumper -- whose name the station did not release -- sustained cracked ribs and a collapsed lung.

Both are expected to fully recover from the crash.

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