The sergeant main of the British Army’s Red Devils parachute show crew plummeted to his loss of life after turning into entangled with one other jumper in an unplanned manoeuvre, a coroner has concluded.
Dean Walton, 36, from Gosport died at an aerodrome in Seville, Spain, on 14 October 2022 after colliding with Nirmal Purja mid-air throughout a coaching leap, Winchester Coroner’s Court heard on Tuesday.
The Afghanistan veteran’s parachute cover collapsed throughout an try and kind an unplanned cover stacking manoeuvre, coroner Jason Pegg stated.
Footage captured on a GoPro by Mr Walton confirmed him leaping from the airplane and descending on Nepalese mountaineer Mr Purja, who had additionally activated his parachute earlier than he grew to become entangled at round 3,000ft and crash landed.
Mr Purja, who gave proof in individual on the inquest, stated Mr Walton “probably wanted to show off and stand on top of my canopy”.
He stated the “brutal reality” was that Mr Walton endangered his life by descending upon his parachute.
“I could have also died,” he stated.
The Special Boat Service veteran stated the plan was a “freefall basic jump, freefall drills” earlier than they might “cut away for a deployment of canopies and landing”.
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Concluding misadventure, Mr Pegg stated: “Nirmal Purja, I have found to be a very credible witness. It does seem to me it’s more likely than not it was not the plan for Dean to land on top of Nirmal Purja’s canopy.
“And when Dean tried that it had the results of his parachute collapsing and him out of the blue plummeting to his loss of life.”
He said Mr Walton had become entangled in parachute lines which he could not free himself from, and subsequently “suffered catastrophic accidents” when he struck the bottom.
Mr Walton and Mr Purja had first met every week earlier than the incident, and had been doing 12 to 14 jumps a day to apply their expertise, the inquest heard.
The inquest additionally heard proof by way of video hyperlink from parachute teacher Victor Grande, who arrived on the scene quickly after the deadly incident.
He stated: “When I arrived to the scene of the accident there was several people around Mr Dean, including Mr Nirmal, who was on his knees crying – but there was no emergency services yet.”
Source: information.sky.com”