20170118000449I

Skydivers were conducting formation flight with two parachutists wearing wing suits. The pair exited the aircraft and began flying a pre-arranged formation flight.

Jumper ?a? Was to follow jumper ?b? Who intended to fly belly to earth thru several turns, then flip over to his back to fly face to face with jumper ?a?. After that jumper ?b? Was to flip back over and make a final turn to the airport prior to opening their canopies.

Jumper ?a? Had a helmet camera which was positioned to film his back. Video taken during the jump showed jumper ?b? Appear several times flying near jumper ?a?s? 7 to 5 o?clock position, he then disappeared from camera view. Then jumper ?a? Flipped over on his back and rolled into a back to earth & head low position.

Within 2 seconds there was a blur in the video, and immediately afterward the camera began spinning wildly. Slowing the video down allowed a clear picture of what happened at the moment the video became a blur.

Jumper ?b? Comes into view at the bottom of the screen. He is face to earth with his wing suit inflated and is looking away from jumper ?a?. Jumper ?a? Is descending at a high rate of speed with his back to jumper ?b?. The camera then shows jumper ?a? Impact with jumper ?b?s? Left foot. Immediately after that the camera is knocked free from jumper ?a?s? Helmet and begins spinning as it falls. Several frames show jumper ?a? In a bent over position with his head to the side. It appears jumper ?a? Is unconscious in the video shots .

In an interview with jumper ?b? He stated that before he was readying to open his canopy for landing he was hit ?very hard? On his left foot. He then observed jumper ?a? Falling past him, and it looked like he was unconscious. Jumper ?b? Stated he tried to catch up with jumper ?a? But was unable to reach him. He pulled his own parachute and immediately looked for jumper ?a?. He stated he saw jumper ?a?s? Reserve canopy had opened and was in a descending spiral turn. The canopy continued to turn and never recovered prior to contacting the ground.

Jumper ?b? Was able to land safely nearby to jumper ?a?. It was clear that jumper ?a? Was badly injured. He was taken by emergency medical helicopter to a local hospital, where he later died due to his injuries.

Jumper ?a?s? Experience level indicates he had just over 350 jumps and had been jumping for 3 years. He had been jumping with a wingsuit prior to coming to Arizona. Jumper ?b? Stated they met up when jumper ?a? Had arrived in Arizona two weeks prior and had made close to 20 wingsuit jumps together during that time.

The following is a list of the equipment worn by jumper ?a?:

Harness & container: mirage model: G-3

Main canopy: performance design spectre 2 (150 sq ft canopy) date of manuf 7/2004

Reserve canopy: performance design (160 sq ft canopy) date of manuf 06/1999

Aad equipment: vigil ii (manufactured 5/2011, installed mar 2015)

A thorough examination of the equipment was made. The main canopy was not deployed from the harness/container, the reserve canopy had deployed. Aad components indicate it had activated cutting the closing loop. Both left and right reserve steering toggles were found in the stowed position with the right hand steering line still in its keeper; however the left hand steering line had deployed and the locking tab on the upper end of the toggle was outside the elastic keeper. A scuff mark was found on the left side of the jumper?s helmet which indicates contact with some type of rubber material. The scuff runs from the back of the helmet to the left side of the helmet immediately above the chin strap.

Awaiting coroner?s report to determine whether there were any medical indications of consciousness prior to impact.