Sky Divers Call the Plane Ride Most Hazardous Part of Sport

Sky divers say the most dangerous part of jumping to Earth is the ride into the sky.

If you can get at least 1,000 feet up in a plane, you’re high enough to use a parachute to get back to earth safely, said sky diver Mark Sechler.

Sechler, a sky diver for 15 of his 37 years, was at the Perris Valley Airport on Wednesday where, nearby, 15 of his friends lay dead around a twin-engine plane that crashed as it carried them off for a noontime of parachuting. Another man died later at a hospital.

“Whenever a plane goes up, we know people on it,” Sechler said. “We all know the risks involved. We accept it. It’s like getting into your car and driving to work.”

The De Havilland Twin Otter carrying 20 sky divers aloft for a jump above the Perris Valley was the latest plane crash to kill sky divers before they have had a chance to pull their rip cords.

* Sixteen sky divers and a pilot died in 1985 when a single-engine Cessna 208 Caravan crashed a few seconds after takeoff from the West Wind Sport Parachute Center in Jenkinsburg, Ga., about 50 miles south of Atlanta. Investigators said the craft was overloaded; fuel contaminated with water also played a part in the crash.

* Thirteen sky divers and their pilot were killed in 1982 when a Korean War-vintage Beechcraft C45H lost power on takeoff and crashed near a former military airstrip eight miles southeast of Taft, Calif. Officials said the twin-engine plane had been modified for use by sky divers but may have been overloaded at the time of the crash.

* Eleven people died near Silvana, Wash., in 1983 when a twin-engine Lockheed Learstar crashed during a sky-diving flight. Fifteen of the 24 parachutists on the flight survived, including 11 who jumped before the plane went into a stall. Four struggled out as it spiraled into the ground.

* Ten sky divers and their pilot were killed in 1986 when their light plane crashed on takeoff in Jakarta, Indonesia. The plane was carrying 11 members of a sky-diving club, including one American.

* Eight persons died in 1988 when a tourist plane carrying several amateur parachutists careened into a quarry near Lens, in northern France.

* Six were killed near Cannet-Des-Maures, France, when a single-engine plane carrying a pilot and five members of a sky-diving club plowed into a hill near the French Riviera.

* Three persons--a pilot and two sky divers--died when their single-engine craft crashed and exploded seconds after takeoff from a grassy airstrip near Seagoville, Tex., in 1986. One of the parachutists was about to take his first jump.

Aviation officials say most parachute jump flights are regulated under the general aviation rules of the Federal Aviation Administration, not the more stringent air taxi aviation rules. Nor do the most stringent rules--those governing scheduled air carriers--apply to parachute jump flights.

FAA regulations do prescribe minimum maintenance requirements at 50 and 100-hour increments of aircraft operation, plus an annual inspection to ascertain airworthiness. Minimum pilot and co-pilot experience levels are also spelled out.

Jim Wallace, chief instructor for the Perris Valley Sky-Diving School, said those on Wednesday’s flight intended to go up to 12,500 feet and jump and do a ballet in the air during a 60-second free fall. The more advanced jumpers were going to do aerial maneuvers and work on technique, he said.

In an effort to emphasize that sky-diving itself was not the hazard on Wednesday, Wallace said, “This was an airplane accident with sky divers aboard.”

Others agreed that flying can be riskier than falling.

“The dangerous time is the takeoff. . . . I’ve been around this business long enough to know that,” said David Aguilar, general manager of Guardian Parachute, a Santa Ana aviation safety firm that works with sky divers.

“But Perris Valley is one of the best. They are really outstanding. Theirs is one of the safest schools in the country.”

Joe Little, president of Paranetics Technology, a South El Monte company that supplies equipment for ultra-light aircraft that also fly out of the Perris Valley Airport, said he also was impressed by Perris’ sky-diving center.

“I can tell you this. It’s (viewed) by most sky divers as the leading sky-diver operation in the world. They adhere to all the safety rules. Sky-diving out there is considered quite safe,” Little said.

Wednesday’s crash hadn’t changed his views either.

“I’d planned to take my first sky-diving lesson out there this summer,” he said. “I’m still going to do it. You bet.”

Times staff writer Scott Harris contributed to this report from Perris and Steven Braun contributed from Los Angeles.

A Look at the Plane

Type: DHC-6 Twin Otter

Manufacturer: Made by Boeing Canada’s De Havilland Division in Canada. Division is now part of Bombardier Inc. of Canada.

Description: Twin-engine turboprop powered by two Pratt & Whitney engines. There are three types of DHC-6 Twin Otters--a 100, 200 and 300 series--and later a larger DHC-8 version was made.

Crew: Pilot and co-pilot.

Passengers: Typically carries 19 commuter passengers. Interior configuration of plane that crashed may have been altered for sky divers.

First Made: July 18, 1966.

Number in Operation: A total of 844 were produced, the last in 1988.

Uses: Originally designed as a bush airplane for the Canadian north. Has a short takeoff and landing capability with a full load, and has a large door on the side useful for sky-diving.

Specifications: About 210 m.p.h. maximum cruise speed at 10,000 feet. Wingspan is 65 feet, height is 19 feet, 6 inches, length is 51 feet, 9 inches.

Reputation: Considered by an FAA spokesman in Los Angeles to be an excellent aircraft and one of the best medium-sized twin turboprops in the world.

SOURCE: De Havilland Inc., Canada; Federal Aviation Administration