Incident
On June 13, 2009, at approximately 1945 eastern daylight time, a De Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter, registration N204EH, operated by Skydive Factory Inc., impacted a skydiver's parachute while maneuvering near Orange County Airport (OMH) in Orange, Virginia. The airplane was not damaged, and the pilot, a certificated airline transport pilot, was not injured. The skydiver involved sustained serious injuries. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time, and no flight plan was filed for the local skydive flight, which was conducted under 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91. The flight had originated from OMH at 1925.
Pilot Account
The pilot reported that after 20 jumpers exited the aircraft, he "descended and entered at a 45-degree angle for the downwind leg for landing on runway 08." While on the downwind leg of the traffic pattern, the pilot stated that the windshield began fogging up. To address this, he performed a 360-degree turn to the right while wiping the window with a rag. The pilot noted that the last altitude he remembered was 2,000 feet mean sea level.
Witness Accounts
Many of the skydivers had already landed in a predetermined landing area, a field located 0.25 nautical miles northwest of the runway. They reported observing the airplane conducting a "low-pass" at approximately 30 feet above ground level. During this pass, the airplane's propeller struck a descending skydiver's parachute. The skydiver fell approximately 20 feet to the ground, resulting in serious injuries. The airplane subsequently landed without incident. Several skydivers indicated that the jump was a memorial exercise to release the ashes of a recently deceased friend, and the airplane's low pass was part of that memorial.
Weather
The recorded weather at OMH at 1943 included calm winds, clear skies, and visibility of 10 miles.