# Incident 20230318013899I: Bell 206B, Fitzgerald, GA, March 18, 2023

- Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported
- Date: March 18, 2023, 14:00 local time
- Place: Fitzgerald, GA
- Airport: Fitgerald Municipal Airport
- Damage: No damage
- Phase of flight: Hover/Holding
- Operating rules: Parachute jumping (Part 105)
- Location: 31.7130° N, 83.2522° W: Placed by OpenAirDocs: center of Fitzgerald, GA, within about 6 miles (OpenAirDocs)
- Nearby events: https://openairdocs.org/map.md?lat=31.7130&lon=-83.2522&mi=10
- Aircraft: N867CH, registered now (https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N867CH) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry model: Bell 206B (registry code 1181511, https://openairdocs.org/model/bell-206b) (OpenAirDocs)
- Registry engine: Allison 250 SER 400HP (registry code 03013, https://openairdocs.org/engine/allison-250-ser-400hp) (OpenAirDocs)
- Reported make and model: BELL 206B
- Reported engine: ALLISON 250 SER 400HP
- People aboard: 1
- Fatal injuries: 1
- Other injuries: 0
- Pilot certificates: Commercial pilot
- Pilot flight hours: 578 in this make and model
- FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/)
- Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20230318013899I

## Narrative

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

HIGH LEVEL OF SKYDIVING EXPERIENCE (5000 JUMPS)

ON MARCH 16TH THRU THE 19TH AN EVENT NAMED ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^WAS HELD AT FITZGERALD MUNICIPAL AIRPORT (FZG).

TALKING WITH THE EVENT SPONSOR AND FRIEND OF DECEASED. THE SKYDIVER INVOLVED ARRIVED AT THE EVENT SATURDAY AFTERNOON, REGISTERED, SUITED UP, AND BOARDED BELL MODEL 206B ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^TO MAKE HIS FIRST JUMP. THE PIC STATED HE TOOK FOUR JUMPERS UP AND SPOKE BRIEFLY WITH THE JUMPER AND HE STATED HIS EXPERIENCE LEVEL. HE ASKED THE PIC TO TAKE THEM TO 5,000 FEET MEAN SEA LEVEL, PROVIDING APPROXIMATELY 4,500 FEET ABOVE THE GROUND. ON THE WAY UP THE WINDS WERE CONSISTENTLY OUT OF THE NORTH. THE PIC STATED THE SKYDIVER SEEMED FOCUSED AND CALM PREPARING FOR THE JUMP. HE STEPPED ON THE SKID ONCE THE ALTITUDE WAS MADE AND JUMPED. SPEAKING WITH FRIEND OF THE DECEASED WHO IS ALSO AN EXPERIENCED SKYDIVER, STATED HE WAS ATTEMPTING TO PERFORM A HIGH SPEED PASS WHICH CONSIST OF A STEEP DIVE THEN FLARING AND SKIMMING CLOSE TO THE GROUND AT A HIGH RATE OF SPEED CALLED “THE SWOOP”. THE SKYDIVER HAD PERFORMED THIS MANEUVER MANY TIMES BEFORE. TALKING WITH THE EVENT SPONSOR AND FRIEND, THEY STATED THE CHUTE WAS OPERATING PROPERLY AND THE SKYDIVER WAS IN CONTROL PRIOR TO IMPACTING THE GROUND. THIS WAS DETERMINED DUE TO THE FACT THAT HE HAD MANEUVERED INTO POSITION TO PERFORM THE PASS. IT IS BELIEVED THAT THE SKYDIVER MISJUDGED HIS ALTITUDE AND IMPACTED THE GROUND. PER THE POLICE REPORT HE TRAVELED APPROXIMATELY 135 FEET BEFORE COMING TO REST. POLICE STATED HE WAS STILL ALIVE AND FIRST AID WAS GIVEN. AS HE WAS BEING TRANSPORTED BY AMBULANCE TO A LANDING ZONE FOR MEDI-VAC HE SUFFERED CARDIAC ARREST AND WAS TAKEN TO THE LOCAL HOSPITAL (DORMINY MEDICAL CENTER) AND WAS DECLARED DECEASED.

INSPECTION OF THE MAIN CHUTE AND HARNESS DID NOT INDICATE ANY EQUIPMENT FAILURE AND THE RESERVE CHUTE WAS INTACT. THE LAST INSPECTION AND RE-PACK WAS PERFORMED BY SENIOR RIGGER SYMBOL (WPR) 12/2022.

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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