# Incident 19960609021959I: Lake Elsimore, CA, June 9, 1996

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: June 9, 1996, 16:00 local time
- Place: Lake Elsimore, CA
- Airport: Skylark Field Airport
- Damage: No damage
- Phase of flight: Parachute Jumping
- Operating rules: Parachute jumping (Part 105)
- Location: 33.6330° N, 117.3016° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs at SKYLARK (CA89), within about a mile (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=33.6330&lon=-117.3016&mi=10
- Aircraft: UR057 (not matched to a registry record)
- People aboard: 2
- Fatal injuries: 1
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19960609021959I

## Narrative

As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^.

NARRATIVE: SUBJECT ANDY BENEDICT, WAS KILLED WHILE MAKING AN INTENTIONAL STUDENT SPORT PARACHUTING JUMP. THE SKYDIVER WAS MAKING A LEVEL IV ADVANCED FREE FALL JUMP FROM 13,000 FEET MSL USING A PRECISION MODEL FALCON 300 SPORT MAIN CANOPY THAT HAD BEEN PACKED BY AN UNNAMED PERSON. THE SKYDIVER WAS EQUIPPED WITH A PIONEER MODEL RAVEN III RESERVE CANOPY THAT WAS INSPECTED AND REPACKED BY A FAA CERTIFICATED RIGGER. JOINED USPA THE MORNING OF THIS JUMP, NO LICENSE ISSUED. DURING DESCENT, SKYDIVER STUDENT WAS UNDER A FULLY INFLATED MAIN CANOPY AND WAS RESPONDING TO INSTRUCTORS RADIO COMMANDS. WHEN SKYDIVER WAS AT APPROXIMATELY 50 FEET AGL, A DUST DEVIL FORMED AND HIT THE SKYDIVERS MAIN CANOPY, CAUSING A REVERSE OF THE SKYDIVERS DIRECTION AND THEN A COLLAPSE OF THE MAIN CANOPY. SKYDIVER HIT THE GROUND AT A HIGH RATE OF SPEED, AND WAS LATER PRONOUNCED DEAD AT THE HOSPITAL. THIS INCIDENT IS CLOSED.

From the FAA Accident/Incident Data System. Reports are matched to registry aircraft by N-number and event date, checked against the reported make and model; the registry's history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model. For accidents, the NTSB's own investigation is the fuller record.

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