Qld skydiving accident probe continues

Investigators hope video footage captured by a skydiving instructor will provide clues into a crash that claimed the lives of three people in Queensland's north

Investigators are expected to spend days working out how a mother and two experienced skydiving instructors plunged to their deaths after an apparent mid-air collision in northern Queensland.

Local mum Kerri Pike, 54, was doing tandem jump with one of the instructors on Friday afternoon when police believe they collided with a solo instructor.

Ms Pike and instructors Peter Dawson, 35, and Toby Turner, 34, all died after plummeting out of control before crashing into the ground.

Their parachutes failed to open properly, with one instructor found in a backyard and the tandem pair in a nearby tree, about 1.5km away from the regular landing zone at Mission Beach.

The jump had reportedly been bought for Ms Pike as a birthday present and several of her children were watching as the jump turned to tragedy.

The Australian Parachute Federation will continue its investigation in the small beachside town on Sunday and will provide a report of its findings to the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.

The fall was captured on video by one of the instructors and the federation hopes it will provide clues as to what went wrong.

Police were asking onlookers who filmed the accident to forward their footage to help determine what happened.

They have not named the trio, but the instructors have been identified as Mr Dawson and Mr Turner by friends and family on social media.

"All we can say is that our beautiful boy died doing what he loved. Our hearts are broken, but we know that every tear we shed Peter was worth," Liz Dawson wrote on Facebook.

Ms Pike, the wife of a former local councillor, was reportedly a mother of eight children.

"She was a wonderful mother, a beautiful soul and a faithful friend to many," Natalie McEachan wrote on Facebook.

"The world has lost another angel. R.I.P. Kerri. You did all who loved you proud."

Operator Skydive Australia said both instructors were highly experienced with a combined 17,000 jumps between them.

"I'm not in a position to speculate about what happened yesterday afternoon but we will be conducting an internal review to make sure all systems and processes were followed in the correct manner," CEO Anthony Ritter told reporters on Saturday.

"All our sites across the country are independently checked by safety auditors every year and Mission Beach was checked just two months ago and the findings were zero non-compliances."


Share

3 min read

Published

Source: AAP



Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world