# Incident 19961022038669I: Eloy, AZ, October 22, 1996

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: October 22, 1996, 17:20 local time
- Place: Eloy, AZ
- Airport: Eloy Municipal Airport
- Phase of flight: Parachute Jumping
- Operating rules: Parachute jumping (Part 105)
- Location: 32.8067° N, 111.5866° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs at ELOY MUNI (E60), within about a mile (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=32.8067&lon=-111.5866&mi=10
- Aircraft: UR071 (not matched to a registry record)
- People aboard: 4
- Fatal injuries: 2
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/19961022038669I

## Narrative

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

NARRATIVE: ON OCTOBER 22, 1996, AT APPROXIMATELY 1730 MST, STEPHEN MORRELL AND JAMES KOONTZ, ALONG WITH TWO OTHER PARACHUTISTS, DEPARTED FROM A JUMP PLANE AT 8,000 FEET AGL AT ELOY, ARIZONA. WITNESSES OBSERVED TWO CANOPIES COLLIDE. MESSRS. KOONTZ AND MORRELL HIT HEADS, RENDERING BOTH JUMPERS UNCONSCIOUS. BOTH JUMPERS IMPACTED THE GROUND WITH PARACHUTES FULLY DEPLOYED APPROXIMATELY 11/2-2 MILES EAST OF THE ELOY AIRPORT. MR. MORRELL WAS DECLARED DEAD AT THE SCENE. MR. KOONTZ WAS AIRLIFTED TO A PHOENIX, ARIZONA HOSPITAL, WHERE HE DIED THE SAME EVENING. BOTH PARACHUTES WERE EXAMINED BY TONY FROST, DPRE, WHO FOUND NO DEFECTS. BOTH PARACHUTISTS HAD BORROWED EQUIPMENT WHICH THEY PACKED THEMSELVES. INCIDENT 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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