This was part of a show including the Blue Angels

I’m trying to find updated information from other local sources.

DULUTH — A parachutist was airlifted to the hospital with injuries after hitting the ground hard while performing at the Duluth Airshow on Saturday.

A Naval Special Warfare spokesperson confirmed a member of the U.S. Navy Parachute Team, formerly known as the "Leap Frogs," was injured during the performance.

The spokesperson said they could not release additional information on the parachutist's condition or nature of injuries at this time. The Navy is currently notifying their family members.

"The Sailor was immediately attended to by on-site medical personnel and subsequently transported to a local medical facility. We appreciate the swift response by the event staff and emergency medical teams on site who provided immediate assistance," the spokesperson said in a statement to the News Tribune.

"The member was immediately tended to by emergency personnel," and taken by LifeLink III helicopter to Essentia Health-St. Mary's Medical Center, Grayson said.

"The extent of his injuries is unknown at this time. We will update as soon as more information is received," Grayson said.

Just after 2 p.m., a News Tribune reporter at the airshow saw a parachute demonstration team member hit the ground hard after separating from another jumper during a stunt in which they were attached at the feet to each other. Both had chutes out during the maneuver.

A News Tribune photographer said as the pair approached the ground, they split apart while horizontal. One jumper hit the ground hard while the other landed safely.

The crowd gasped as the jumpers approached the ground at high speed, and the jumper impacted the ground near the announcer's stand.

The airshow stopped as numerous emergency personnel surrounded the injured parachutist. The medical helicopter landed at the scene just before 2:30 p.m. and left with the injured jumper.

The airshow resumed by about 2:45 p.m.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with our injured team member and their family," the Naval Special Warfare Spokesperson said. "We wish to thank the community for their support and concern.”

The U.S. Navy Parachute Team is made up of active-duty Navy SEALs, Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewmen and support personnel, according to its website.

Team members have "conducted real-world operations" before volunteering for a three-year commitment on the demonstration team. After those three years, they will return to their operation units, the website said.

It cannot be good if they were using the parachute as a privacy screen.

Very sorry to read this, they perform on Military Monday almost every year at Cheyenne Frontier Days. Hope he’s going to be ok.

Sounds kind of like the two had open canopies and docked(CRW) their parachutes. The down plane dives the parachutes at the ground in a fun and vertical dive. They release just before landing and level off and hopefully turn into the wind.



Sometimes they attach cables to keep connected. As they dive vertically they can release by pulling a handle and that separates just in time to stop the descent and hopefully the canopies can level out and land safely.

We refused to use cables and we referred to them as death straps for a reason. Its easy enough to leg lock and just let go of a foot hold to stop the rapid decent. The Frogs are daredevils and push it. They either had a strap problem or they just screwed the pooch and somebody likely paid a high price to show off.

It's better for everyone if the immediate scene is shielded from the crowd.

Nice to see a quick and professional response. I hope his injuries aren't serious, he recovers quickly and returns to doing what he loves.

Latest late is “stable condition,” no other information is being released.

‘Stable’ is much better than it could be. Of course serious injuries could still be present.

This article has a video of the accident. IT sure looks like they separated late.

https://www.fox9.com/news/navy...ng-at-duluth-airshow

"Stable" just means "not likely to die". One prays for his quick full recovery.

flashguy

quote:

Originally posted by Sigmund:
This article has a video of the accident. IT sure looks like they separated late.

https://www.fox9.com/news/navy...ng-at-duluth-airshow

Ow.

quote:

Originally posted by Sigmund:
This article has a video of the accident. IT sure looks like they separated late.

Yep. In addition, compared to the video of the same trick posted earlier by gw3971 in which they both remained side-by-side horizontally before separation, in this one it looks like they ended up stacked vertically when they separated, causing the bottom jumper to swing more downward rapidly upon release towards the already-too-close ground.

quote:

Originally posted by Sigmund:
This article has a video of the accident. IT sure looks like they separated late.

https://www.fox9.com/news/navy...ng-at-duluth-airshow

His partner in the jump was fully vertical, not leaving space for the injured SEAL to approach the LZ in a favorable position to have an opportunity to safely separate and attain full vertical himself. The injured SEAL was actually inverted just before separation. Looks to me like it wasn’t so much a late separation, that’s part of the show, but the pair was poorly positioned as they approached ground level.

Looking at that video it's obvious they separated way too late. With jumpers this experienced I would expect that separating would be SOP if the jump started to go sideways. This leads me to conclude that this was an alternate scheme hatched up by the two jumpers. Unfortunately neither jumper had considered the time needed for the bottom jumper to get into a safe landing position. That jump probably would have worked if they had separated just 50 feet higher. Unfortunately getting it right would have required rehearsing the jump which I don't think was ever done. It's just two hotshots trying something new and the guy on the bottom took the hit. The last glimpse of that fellow indicated to me that he probably has two broken legs and likely a couple of hip fractures.

quote:

Originally posted by TMats:

quote:

Originally posted by Sigmund:
This article has a video of the accident. IT sure looks like they separated late.

https://www.fox9.com/news/navy...ng-at-duluth-airshow

His partner in the jump was fully vertical, not leaving space for the injured SEAL to approach the LZ in a favorable position to have an opportunity to safely separate and attain full vertical himself. The injured SEAL was actually inverted just before separation. Looks to me like it wasn’t so much a late separation, that’s part of the show, but the pair was poorly positioned as they approached ground level.

Leap Frogs are not necessarily all SEAL's are they?

It was somewhat breezy that day (not as much as the next day!) and I wonder if that played into the incident?

looks to me like the down hill jumper did not turn in from the down plane into the side by side on time with his team mate. Once his teammate started turning his parachute inward towards the other jumper it slows his descent rate. The other jumper was late in the turn and he clearly was moving faster down hill. I'm betting they either had comms issues and he missed the command or the lower jumper just got behind the power curve and by the time he realized it it was too late and his rate of decent was too high with him missing the turn that he paid the price. I'm betting a fractured femur, a couple of spinal fractures and a compressed vertebra.

Hit the ground at 90 mph

Update:

Parachutist Expected To Make ‘Full Recovery’ After Duluth Airshow Accident

^^^Chock full of details that article (snippit?) is! Kind of a stretch to call it an update...

It’s not the fall that kills you. It’s the sudden stop…


Glad the jumper is gonna be OK. Hopefully he’s reviewing what he learned from this incident.