Sky Divers Killed in Crash Did Not Wear Safety Belts

None of the passengers wore safety belts aboard a twin-engine plane that crashed during takeoff with two teams of international sky divers aboard, federal investigators said Thursday.

National Transportation and Safety Board investigators also found that “no power was being developed in the right engine at the time of impact,” said NTSB acting Chairman Susan Coughlin, who headed the inquiry. She said it was impossible to determine if the plane could have taken off with only one engine.

Wednesday’s crash at the Perris Valley Airport in rural Riverside County killed 16 people, including veteran sky-diving instructors and a trio of sky-diving camera operators, one of whom may have been inadvertently running his video camera as he died. Six other people on board were seriously injured.

“We are looking at whether restraints were installed properly, but we are confident they were not in use,” Coughlin said. “The physical evidence is that they were stowed and buckled together.”

Many sky divers disdain seat belts, and many of the bodies in Wednesday’s disaster were hurled to the front of the De Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter on impact.

Coughlin said she could not be certain that restraints would have saved lives in this accident, which claimed an unusually high number of victims for a fireless crash.

“There may have been forces at play that would have made it non-survivable” even if the passengers had been restrained, she said. “I can only tell you with assurance that their chances weren’t improved by the fact they weren’t restrained.”

Coughlin told a press briefing at a hotel in Riverside that the NTSB could recommend as part of its report on the tragedy that the Federal Aviation Administration more vigorously enforce regulations requiring that there be restraints aboard planes and that they be in use during departures and landings.

Several experienced parachutists told investigators that they had never been instructed to use restraints, Coughlin said. She noted that investigators are trying to determine if there are exceptions when the restraints are not required.

Shoulder harnesses were installed on both cockpit seats in the De Havilland that crashed, Coughlin said, but only the pilot’s harness worked. The pilot and co-pilot wore only lap belts. Both died in the crash.

Coughlin said the cockpit may not have been survivable even with shoulder restraints.

“We have a rather flexible policy on that (the use of restraints),” Jim Wallace, chief instructor of the Perris Valley Sky Diving School, which sponsored the doomed excursion, said Thursday. “We don’t have a stringent policy that says everybody must have that seat belt on.”

Wallace’s comments seemed to contradict statements he made the day before, when he insisted that the jumpers on the doomed flight did use restraints.

Many sky-diving enthusiasts, who often speak with a certain bravado, say they do not like to use restraints because they can dangerously restrict movement within an aircraft. Or, they say, the buckles can be confused for the handles of a parachute and lead a jumper to accidentally deploy a chute in flight.

The plane’s wreckage was moved from a remote, grassy field to a main hangar where NTSB investigators will sift through the rubble for the next few days in search of clues, Coughlin said.

They are measuring pieces of equipment, shooting pictures and will continue interviewing witnesses into the weekend, Coughlin said.

The plane’s engines and propellers will be sent to Canada--where they were manufactured--for inspection, Coughlin said. Investigators will also go over maintenance records and look at FAA files to see what enforcement and inspection records they have on the aircraft and its operators, she said.

According to witnesses, the Twin Otter took off about 11:15 a.m. Wednesday, on its second run of the day. As it climbed, it suddenly yawed to the right, rolled almost to a 90-degree bank and then slammed nose-first into the ground. The wreckage finally came to a stop about 150 feet from the initial point of impact, Coughlin said.

The jumpers were sitting on the floor of the seat-less plane, suited up with bulky parachutes and jumping uniforms. Among the passengers were two teams practicing for national sky-diving championships, including a four-man team from Holland, a New Zealander and a Frenchman, as well as several well-known local jumpers.

The accident tore at the heart of the close-knit sky-diving community based in the Perris Valley, said to be the nation’s busiest and most popular area for jumping.

Friends and colleagues, some of whom witnessed the crash, spoke Thursday of their love for the sport, their dismay at what had taken place and their sadness for the loss. Many expressed concern that Perris Valley Sky Diving School might be grounded.

And several reiterated their conviction that seat belts may hinder the jumper.

Perris Valley sky-diving instructor Scott Wakefield, 35, said that although new students are encouraged to wear seat belts on takeoff, most experienced jumpers “don’t like the idea.”

“The last thing I want is 15 or 16 people buckled into the plane where you can’t get around them,” in emergencies, Wakefield said. “You start fumbling for your seat belt, you take a chance in deploying your reserve chute, which is a definite hazard.” If the door to the aircraft were to open, Wakefield said, a deployed chute could cause a jumper to be swept from the plane.

Times staff writers Tracy Wilkinson and Edward J. Boyer in Los Angeles contributed to this story.

The Victims

Following is a partial list of those confirmed dead or injured in the Perris crash, provided by the Riverside County coroner’s office, hospital officials and the Perris Valley Sky Diving School. DECEASED:

Geoffrey Anderson, 26, student parachutist, of Moreno Valley

Scott Border, flight instructor, of Moreno Valley

Anthony Cabrera, 25, of Covina

Jacqueline Downs, 27, parachutist videotaping the flight, of Perris

Larry Fatino, flight instructor, of Aguanga

Rowland Guilford, 44, pilot, of Riverside

Christopher Harrell, 28, of Perry, Okla.

James Ian Layne, 21, parachutist, of Menifee

John Mitchell, 43, flight instructor, of Perris

Christophe Ribet, 25, of San Diego

Dwight Sanders, 27, of Huber Heights, Ohio INJURED:

Troy Widgery, 25, of Menifee; in serious condition at Loma Linda University Medical Center with hip injuries and a broken collarbone

Dan Brodsky-Chenfeld, 30, of Sun City; upgraded from critical to serious condition with head injuries, at Loma Linda University Medical Center

Thomas Falzone, 31; in serious condition at Riverside General Hospital with back and rib fractures

Wayne Flemington; remained in critical condition at Riverside General Hospital with spinal injuries.

Gerard Fidom, 30; remained in critical condition at Riverside General Hospital with a broken neck and back injuries

Jos Arkes, 26; condition not known.