# Incident 20061231029719I: Eloy, AZ, December 31, 2006

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: December 31, 2006, 13:00 local time
- Place: Eloy, AZ
- Phase of flight: Parachute Jumping
- Operating rules: Parachute jumping (Part 105)
- Location: 32.7559° N, 111.5548° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs: center of Eloy, AZ, within about 6 miles (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=32.7559&lon=-111.5548&mi=10
- Aircraft: UNKNOWN (not matched to a registry record)
- Fatal injuries: 1
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20061231029719I

## Narrative

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

(-23) THE JUMPER MADE A FREEFALL JUMP AT ELOY, AZ. HE WORE A HELMET MOUNTED VIDEO CAMERA WHICH FILMED THE COMPLETE EVENT. REVIEW OF THE VIDEOTAPE REVEALS THAT HIS CANOPY DEPLOYED NORMALLY AND HE BEGAN TURNING MANEUVERS DURING CANOPY DESCENT. AS HE APPROACHED THE LANDING ZONE, HE WAS TRAVELING TO THE NORTH, HE BEGAN A HARD LEFT HAND FRONT RISER TURN. THIS TURN WAS EXECUTED THRU A FULL 450 DEGREES. AT THAT POINT THE TURN WAS ARRESTED; THEN A RAPID LEFT HAND TURN OF 180 DEGREES WAS EXECUTED. THIS SECOND TURN WAS EXECUTED SO LOW TO THE GROUND THAT THERE WAS AN INITIAL SLOWING OF THE VERTICAL DESCENT RATE, BUT IT WAS STILL MOVING FAST WHEN THE JUMPER HIT THE GROUND. IMPACT WITH THE GROUND FATALLY INJURED THE JUMPER. INTERVIEWS WITH WITNESSES RESULT IN THE DETERMINATION THAT THE JUMPER HAD EXECUTED A LEFT HAND FRONT RISER SPIRAL TURN IN HIS APPROACH TO LANDING, WHEN HE DESCENDED INTO THE FLIGHT PATH OF A SECOND JUMPER WHO WAS BELOW HIM ON A STRAIGHT IN FINAL. THE SECOND RAPID TURN BY THE JUMPER WAS IN RESPONSE TO SEEING THE SECOND JUMPER, WHOM HE ATTEMPTED TO KEEP FROM HITTING. THE SECOND JUMPER NEVER SAW HIM, BUT FELT SOMETHING PASSING HER LEGS.

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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