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This fatality has only happened and it was a wingsuit...will release details soon


edited to standardized subject line -- wwarped

hey we got a local over there right now doing some WS in the valley . ( if possible if you have info ), would appreciate a PM.
....thanks
.

Was it a Canadian by any chance

Yes :(

The Police Report:


http://www.police.be.ch/...tundtoedlichverletzt

:( may he rest in peace, he was such a great guy....that is all I am going to say on here - THANK YOU everyone for confirming.

The translated gist of that article is basically:


If I screwed anything up in that, feel free to correct me.

Now that the next of kin have been notified I will post the details of yesterdays fatality. Will Heidebrecht passed away yesterday morning around 10:00 am after jumping his wingsuit from the high nose. The exit was normal with his phantom and he flew about 45 degrees to the left. After what appeared to be a low pull the first jumper on the load, (also on a wingsuit) ran to his body. I jumped on my own wingsuit directly after Will knowing that something was wrong but not really knowing what had occurred. Dominque is a paramedic and the first one of us at the scene. Will had no vitals and we believe he was killed on impact at about line stretch. We thought it was a simple low pull but after reviewing his rear mounted video we could see that he actually went to pull at a normal wingsuit altitude. At that time he spent about 4 seconds with his arms at his sides. The pilot chute is in plane view of the camera in the BOC. His hands looked as though they could have been searching for the base pouch until finally after about 4 seconds he reached for and deployed the PC normally from the BOC. On video the altitude is treetops about 100 feet. That is also confirmed by jumpers who witnessed it from the ground. The canopy was at line stretch only behind the slider at the top of the lines with little to no inflation.The site was an open field about half wazy between the road and the river. I believe air glacier was called immediately and Swiss paramedics arrived within 10 mins.
Will had been jumping his V3 during most of the summer and had about 60 jumps on it with the base pouch. He had blown out one of the arm zippers and decided to switch back to his phantom which he had done many jumps on in the past. He also did one jump on one of Tonys wingsuits and had been trying on some other suit. He had also been throwing in the odd tracking jump here and there.
We think that the switching of the various gear back and fourth was a large variable in this inccident.
My deepest condolensces to Will's wife, children and all who knew him. My thoughts are also with all the Canadian jumpers here in the valley who were with Will and his friends at home who could not be here. Goodbye Will you were a great guy and I had an awesome time jumping with you here in the valley. I deeply regret that we won't jump together back home.

Trent

I've moved a few posts over to the BSBD forum. we are attempting to keep the warm and fuzzies over there, and the cold, harsh facts here.

the two different desires have created friction in previous threads. please assist by posting condolences in the other thread.

There is a problem in engineering of solving problems which are not really there. I think the BASE pouch is one of them. There have been at least 2 fatalities regarding the PC not being in the expected place, but zero due to someone not finding the BOC. I'll stick with the BOC I think.

http://www.basejumper.com/...rum.cgi?post=1667652

IMO, The BASE pouch is a good thing. The PC is always at the exact same location.

Hi

First of all I'd like to say how sorry I am to hear of another fatality. My thoughts are with the family and friends of the deceased.

Second, I dont post much here anymore as I do not jump at the moment. Please read the post KrisFlyz linked to. This is why we should ALL USE THE POUCH. I can still remember my experience vividly to this day. Thats all I have to say.

Darren

I just don't get the rational of one person having a problem one time resulting in a mass exodus of using the BOC. I know it's cool and en vogue to use the pouch, but I'm not buying it. See outrager's comments in the same thread.

I've heard that same comment from more than one person with hundreds+ of wingsuit BASE. I'm hesitant to say no one has went in due to BOC, because every time I say that seems like I'm proven wrong.

Then go with the manufacturers recommendation. i.e Robi..... or wait till you get a handfull of wing at 500 feet.

I will be the first to say that in 1000+ WS skydives using the BOC it's only happended once to me, but THAT ONE TIME it took me 7-8 seconds to fix. Thats too long on a base jump.

We all must use whatever we feel comfortable with. I have used both and nearly gone in on the BOC. I will never use BOC again on BASE. Read all the other reasons Robi wrote in that same post about why pouch is better... not least allowing full flight ( minimum altitude loss ) during pull.

I have seen as-yet unreleased footage of a V4 prototype being flown. I can say without a doubt that BOC on base WS jumps is a thing of the past. The increase in surface area at the wing root on V4 is so much that EVEN THE POUCH looks difficult to get to.

The suit is amazing looking though.......

Darren

outrager now uses a BASE pouch(recent video). As far as I remember, he changed to it several years ago. He is on this site, so we can hope to hear from him.

Frankly, I think this discussion of BOC vs BASE pouch is only sidetracking the main issue.

The fatalities that resulted from changing PC locations are a due to the jumper running out of altitude before getting the canopy out.

There may be more benefit in discussing the best practices when switching gear around that involves different deployment procedures.

Thanx for that info my friend Trent !

I was shocked when I heard this... I lked Him a lot...

And gonna miss Him a lot !

Fly free Will... and if you will arrange a Ice Hockey team there in "another side" you can count me in :)

-Tony Vilko-

I've had a heart stop moment when swapping suits, there is certainly something said for not needlessly swapping PC position.

I usually punch or pinch myself in the position of the PC handle during gear up.

All,

I have removed the discussion about risk taking and decision making from this thread and moved it to the General Forum, at the request of jumpers who I think are entitled to make such a request in this case.

Let's please leave this thread for actual discussion of this specific incident.

The separated thread can be found here.

Thanks!