Dumb, Needless Deaths

[David]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8944653/

Wyoming woman killed in first skydive
Family members witness accident; instructor also seriously injured

OGDEN, Utah - A woman died making her first skydive — a tandem jump with her instructor, who was seriously injured in the fall, authorities said.

Julia Bond of Evanston, Wyo., died in a hospital after the jump Saturday and Jon Vancleave, of Roy, was in stable but serious condition, police said. Some members of Bond’s family witnessed the accident, making it “particularly tragic,” said Fire Department Battalion Chief Steve Splinter.

There were conflicting accounts from witnesses of what happened. Some said a gust of wind caught the pair as they came down and pushed them into a building at the north end of Ogden Airport, Splinter said. Others said the pair missed the building, but the wind caused the parachute to collapse and the two dropped about 20 feet.

Bond was flown by medical helicopter to McKay-Dee Hospital Center in Ogden with severe head trauma and chest injuries and was pronounced dead. Vancleave was in stable but serious condition at the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City. Splinter said he suffered head trauma and multiple fractures. The Federal Aviation Administration will investigate.
© 2005 The Associated Press
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Whenever I read stories like these, I can work up only so much empathy. Skydiving, inter alia, is neither a suitable nor a wise activity for human beings to engage in. Throwing yourself out of a plane with nothing but a pack parachute on your back represents a certain type of dangerous vanity, as far as I'm concerned. Those who attempt to challenge Mother Nature (in this case, gravity & weather) on their own terms are fools. It's a cautionary tale as old as time itself: When Nature engages you in battle, you will probably lose.