# Incident 20260321003969I: Dehavilland DHC-6-200, Eloy, AZ, March 21, 2026 - Type: FAA incident report (Accident/Incident Data System), as reported - Date: March 21, 2026, 13:03 local time - Place: Eloy, AZ - Airport: Eloy Municipal - Damage: No damage - Phase of flight: Other, Specify - 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: N204BD, registered now (https://openairdocs.org/aircraft/N204BD) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry model: Dehavilland DHC-6-200 (registry code 2802620, https://openairdocs.org/model/dehavilland-dhc-6-200) (OpenAirDocs) - Registry engine: Pratt & Whitney Canada PT6A-60A (registry code 52043, https://openairdocs.org/engine/pratt-whitney-canada-pt6a-60a) (OpenAirDocs) - Reported make and model: DEHAVILLAND DHC-6-200 - Reported engine: P&W CANADA PT6A-60A - People aboard: 1 - Fatal injuries: 1 - Other injuries: 0 - FAA source: FAA Aviation Safety Information Portal (https://asip.faa.gov/) - Page: https://openairdocs.org/incident/20260321003969I ## Narrative As the FAA filed it, in capitals; the FAA replaces private details with ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^. ON MARCH 21, 2026, BETWEEN APPROXIMATELY 1255 AND 1303 MST (1955Z–2003Z), A PARACHUTIST EMPLOYED BY ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^ WAS CONDUCTING VIDEO RECORDING OPERATIONS DURING A TANDEM JUMP EVENT. THE GROUP EXITED AIRCRAFT ^PRIVACY DATA OMITTED^ AT APPROXIMATELY 13,200 FEET MSL. VIDEO REVIEW INDICATED NORMAL JUMP OPERATIONS UNTIL THE PARACHUTIST DEPLOYED HER MAIN PARACHUTE. THE PARACHUTIST WAS NOT WEARING WINGS ON HER JUMPSUIT AND APPEARED TO DEPLOY THE MAIN PARACHUTE NORMALLY WHILE USING HER LEFT HAND TO MAINTAIN STABILITY. FOLLOWING DEPLOYMENT, THE MAIN CANOPY INITIALLY REMAINED STABLE BEFORE ENTERING A RIGHT TWISTING MOTION, RESULTING IN APPROXIMATELY FIVE TWISTS IN THE MAIN HARNESS NEAR THE CONTROL TOGGLES. THE PARACHUTE SYSTEM SUBSEQUENTLY ENTERED A SEVERE RIGHT DESCENDING SPIN WITH THE PILOT CHUTE REMAINING IN TOW. APPROXIMATELY 17 SECONDS OF UNCONTROLLED DESCENT OCCURRED BEFORE ACTIVATION OF THE AUTOMATIC ACTIVATION DEVICE (AAD). AUDIO CAPTURED ON THE VIDEO INDICATED THE AAD ALARMS ACTIVATED AT APPROXIMATELY 6,000 FEET AND AGAIN NEAR 5,400 FEET. WHILE THE MAIN CANOPY REMAINED ATTACHED, THE RESERVE PILOT CHUTE DEPLOYED AND BECAME ENTANGLED WITH THE MAIN HARNESS AND HELMET CAMERA MOUNT. VIDEO REVIEW SHOWED SLACK IN THE RESERVE LINES CONSISTENT WITH THE ENTANGLEMENT. THE PARACHUTIST WAS ABLE TO FREE THE RESERVE DEPLOYMENT BAG FROM THE ENTANGLEMENT WHILE THE SYSTEM REMAINED IN A SEVERE RIGHT SPIN. AFTER THE RESERVE CANOPY DEPLOYED, THE RESERVE SYSTEM ALSO EXPERIENCED LINE TWISTS AND DID NOT FULLY INFLATE. APPROXIMATELY EIGHT SECONDS LATER, THE MAIN CANOPY SEPARATED FROM THE HARNESS. THE MAIN CANOPY CUTAWAY HANDLE WAS NOT RECOVERED. VIDEO FROM BOTH THE PARACHUTIST’S HELMET CAMERA AND A BYSTANDER ON THE GROUND SHOWED THE RESERVE CANOPY REMAINED PARTIALLY TWISTED AND THE PARACHUTIST CONTINUED DESCENDING IN A SEVERE RIGHT SPIN. THE PARACHUTIST WAS UNABLE TO CLEAR THE TWISTS PRIOR TO GROUND IMPACT. THE PARACHUTIST IMPACTED TERRAIN AT COORDINATES 32.8091778 NORTH LATITUDE AND -111.587986 WEST LONGITUDE. THE PARACHUTIST WAS INITIALLY UNCONSCIOUS FOLLOWING IMPACT AND WAS LOCATED APPROXIMATELY ONE MINUTE AND TWENTY-TWO SECONDS LATER BY A BYSTANDER. VIDEO EVIDENCE INDICATED THE PARACHUTIST WAS BREATHING AND HAD A PULSE WHEN LOCATED. THE PARACHUTIST REGAINED CONSCIOUSNESS APPROXIMATELY THREE MINUTES LATER. EMERGENCY MEDICAL PERSONNEL ARRIVED APPROXIMATELY SIX MINUTES AND THIRTY-ONE SECONDS AFTER IMPACT. POST-ACCIDENT INSPECTION OF THE PARACHUTE EQUIPMENT BY MULTIPLE RIGGERS DID NOT IDENTIFY ANY ABNORMALITIES. THE RESERVE PARACHUTE PACK CARD CONFIRMED THE RESERVE CHUTE HAD BEEN PACKED BY THE PARACHUTIST. IT WAS NOT DETERMINED WHETHER THE PARACHUTIST PACKED THE MAIN CANOPY. ## Other reports on N204BD (4) Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date. - [Incident 20250502004559I](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20250502004559I), May 2, 2025: Dehavilland DHC-6-200 (N204BD), Eloy, AZ, No damage, 1 fatal. On may 2, 2025, at approximately 11:00 am MST, a parachute jumper at Eloy airport (E60) in Eloy, Arizona, sustained fatal injuries after failing to deploy his… - [Incident 20150523011959I](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20150523011959I), May 23, 2015: Dehavilland DHC-6-200 (N204BD), Eloy, AZ, No damage, 1 fatal. Skydiver was participating in a 16 man formation jump which was practice for a larger 100 way attempt. The exit from the aircraft and formation portion of the… - [Incident 20140403006159I](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20140403006159I), Apr 3, 2014: Dehavilland DHC-6-200 (N204BD), Eloy, AZ, No damage, 1 fatal. During a 222 way skydiving formation attempt the jumper flew in the formation and deployed her canopy at approximately 2000 AGL. Witnesses stated they observed… - [Incident 20050216005289I](https://openairdocs.org/incident/20050216005289I), Feb 16, 2005: Dhav DHC6200 (N204BD), Eloy, AZ, 1 fatal. (-23) Multiple skydivers left aircraft and were farther away from landing area than were able to travel back under canopy to land. One of the other skydivers… 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. --- OpenAirDocs.org is an independent research project of [Contrail Labs](https://contraillabs.com/). It is not affiliated with the FAA or the NTSB. Source documents are U.S. government works in the public domain.