Overview
- Footage shows the first jumper’s reserve handle catching a Cessna Caravan’s wing flap at about 15,000 feet over Tully, deploying the reserve and wrapping the canopy around the tailplane.
- The entanglement damaged the left horizontal stabiliser and left the skydiver hanging beneath the aircraft as a camera operator was dislodged into freefall with a minor injury.
- Dangling in the slipstream, the jumper cut 11 reserve lines with a hook knife, then deployed the main canopy and landed with minor injuries.
- The pilot, experiencing limited pitch control, declared a mayday to Brisbane Centre, prepared to bail out, and ultimately landed the damaged aircraft safely at Tully.
- Investigators found the aircraft was operated outside its weight‑and‑balance envelope and the pilot did not use supplemental oxygen; FNFF has mandated hook knives and updated procedures, the APF is developing loadmaster guidance and emergency training, and the club is working with software providers on centre‑of‑gravity tools.