What happened
During a skydiving training session involving a team of four competitors, a Cessna Aircraft Company Caravan was climbing to 14,000 ft. The aircraft was carrying the four-person team, a cameraman, six additional jumpers, and the pilot. As the group approached the drop zone, the door blind was raised to prepare for the jump. During the exit sequence, the middle member of the jumping team experienced a premature deployment of their reserve parachute pilot chute.
Because of the jumper's physical orientation during the exit, the pilot chute was pushed upward and over the horizontal stabilizer. This caused the reserve canopy to become entangled with the aircraft's left elevator and horizontal stabilizer. Approximately eleven seconds after this entanglement, the aircraft's empennage separated from the fuselage. The left elevator and the parachutist also detached from the tail section during this structural failure.
Following the separation, the aircraft entered a steep, nose-down spiral. The pilot ordered the remaining passengers to evacuate the aircraft. After the final passenger exited, the pilot attempted to bail out but found the door blind had closed, trapping him inside. After struggling to reopen the blind, the pilot successfully exited the aircraft at roughly 1,000 ft and landed safely. The remaining fuselage of the aircraft crashed onto the landing strip, resulting in total destruction by impact and fire.
Findings
- The accident resulted in one fatality and no other injuries among the crew and passengers.
- The primary cause of the structural failure was the entanglement of the reserve parachute lines with the horizontal stabilizer and elevator, which led to the separation of the empennage.