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Experienced skydivers and female customer die in Queensland accident Experienced skydivers and female customer die in Queensland accident
(about 4 hours later)
Police hope mobile phone footage will help them piece together what caused a skydiving tragedy in north Queensland that killed two experienced instructors and a customer following a mid-air collision. Police hope mobile phone footage and witness accounts can help piece together the cause of a skydiving tragedy in north Queensland that killed two experienced instructors and a customer following a mid-air collision.
Two men in their 30s and a woman in her 50s were found dead at Mission Beach – several kilometres from the usual beach landing point – just after 3pm on Friday. The two male instructors, aged 34 and 35, and a 54-year-old local mother were found dead at Mission Beach – 7km from the usual beach landing point – just after 3pm on Friday.
One of the male victims was a solo skydiver while the others were on a tandem dive. One male instructor, who was jumping solo, was found in a backyard at Mission Beach, while the other instructor and the female customer, who were doing a tandem dive, were found in a nearby tree, about 1.5km from the regular landing zone.
A police statement said: “Initial investigations indicate that a solo skydiver may have collided with tandem skydivers in mid-air with their parachutes failing to deploy correctly.”
A witness told the Cairns Post newspaper: “You could see one chute was tangled and it wasn’t opening. I was just watching him in free fall until he went behind the trees and that was the last I saw. It wasn’t good to watch. I had my heart in my mouth.”
Queensland police has not named the trio, but the instructors have been identified on social media as Peter Dawson and Toby Turner.
“All we can say is that our beautiful boy died doing what he loved. Our hearts are broken, but we know that every tear we shed Peter was worth,” Liz Dawson wrote on Facebook.
It is understood members of Dawson’s family are travelling to Queensland on Saturday from Victoria.
Investigators have asked anyone with footage of the incident to contact them.Investigators have asked anyone with footage of the incident to contact them.
“We’re appealing for anyone that did witness or has some of kind of footage to come forward to police,” Senior Sergeant Peter Williamson said on Friday. “We’re appealing for anyone that did witness or has some of kind of footage [of the incident] to come forward to police,” Senior Sergeant Peter Williamson said on Friday.
Operating company Skydive Australia said the solo skydiver was a “highly experienced instructor who had completed thousands of jumps … the other two were jumping as a tandem pair: a highly experienced instructor and a customer.” Operating company Skydive Australia has indefinitely suspended its operations at Mission Beach while investigations into the incident continue.
Skydive Australia suspended operations at Mission Beach while investigations into the incident continued. “The company extends its deepest sympathies and heartfelt condolences to the individuals and families involved and the broader skydiving community,” it said in a statement.
Queensland police said: “Initial investigations indicate that a solo skydiver may have collided with tandem skydivers in mid-air with their parachutes failing to deploy correctly.” Skydive Australia said the solo skydiver was a “highly experienced instructor who had completed thousands of jumps … the other two were jumping as a tandem pair: a highly experienced instructor and a customer”.
One witness told the Cairns Post newspaper: “You could see one chute was tangled and it wasn’t opening. I was just watching him in free fall until he went behind the trees and that was the last I saw. It wasn’t good to watch. I had my heart in my mouth.” The Australian Parachute Federation is investigating the tragedy and will provide a report to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.
Skydive Australia said: “The company extends its deepest sympathies and heartfelt condolences to the individuals and families involved and the broader skydiving community.”
Wayne Kimberley, a Cassowary shire councillor who has represented the Mission Beach area for more than a decade, said it was a “terrible accident and obviously a tragedy for the community, and the [local tourism] industry”.
“Obviously from council’s perspective, we’ll be offering as much support as we can, to try and find out what actually happened,” he said. “We value the tourism industry and this is a terrible blow to that industry – particularly at Mission Beach, where we rely so heavily on tourism.”
He said skydiving was a drawcard for adventure-minded tourists in the area, along with whitewater rafting trips on the Tully river.
Kimberley said he knew little of the details, but said skydivers usually landed on Mission Beach in front of the Castaways resort, which is about three kilometres south of the less populated area near Alexander Drive where the victims were found.
Australian Associated Press contributed to this reportAustralian Associated Press contributed to this report