On Sunday, March 12, a Pilatus Porter with 10 skydivers and the pilot crashed in Moorsele, Belgium. Eye vitnesses said that the plane stalled shortly after take-off at about 100 feet and fell flat to the ground. All on board were injured, but no deaths are reported so far. The cause of the crash is not known yet.
 

A 33 year old German skydiver was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison for the death of a female skydiver in Münster. The judge's decision stated it was proven the man sent the 31 year old woman to her death by manipulating her parachute because of an unrequited relationship. The convicted man confessed to the crime but later claimed his innocence. The young female jumped from 3000 meters (10.000 ft) unaware of the manipulation. Her main canopy, reserve and Cypres failed and she hit the ground at high speed.
 

"Bird-Man" Wingsuit
Announcement from BirdMan International - February 21, 2000
 
BirdMan International would like to warn all skydivers and skydiving associations about con man who calls himself Kenneth Gregg. This impostor claims to have a company in Germany called Ikaros-sky-collection. He claims to be BirdMan wingsuit dealer and instructor with over 4200 jumps under his belt.
 
Recently it came to our knowledge, from Finnish law enforcement, that Kenneth Gregg is wanted in Finland as well as in Sweden for several frauds. He was just sentenced to imprisonment for two years for some of his frauds. From his parachute club we found out that he has no more than maximum 200 jumps (before he was expelled from the club).
 
Kenneth Gregg is by no means qualified instructor for the BirdMan wingsuits, he is NOT our dealer and if found with our BirdMan suits, they should be taken from him before he causes more harm to skydiving society or puts skydivers in jeopardy. He has five (5) BirdMan suits in his possession and if met offering these suits for sale, rent or exchange, please contact us ASAP.
 
Kenneth is known to live currently in Germany, he also travels a lot in Scandinavia and U.S.
 
Please feel free to spread this message.
Kind regards,
Jari Kuosma & Robert Pecnik
BirdMan International Ltd.
http://www.bird-man.com
info@bird-man.com

Because of 2 recent fatalities involving relatively small suspension lines snagging on container grommets, as well as other similar incidents not resulting in fatalities, the Parachute Industry Association has issued PIA Technical Bulletin TB-301 addressing Container Grommets and Small Suspension Lines. For details, go to:
http://www.pia.com/piapubs/tb/TB-301.htm

The camera flyer of a German 4-way team visiting the USA for training jumps died on February 28 in Eloy, Arizona, after he spun in under a main-reserve entanglement.
 
"As far as the cause of this fatality, I have received input from reliable sources that a Spectra suspension line snagged under the grommet on the main loop retainer on a Javelin rig, which was attached to the reserve divider wall. The reserve was deployed into the trailing mess resulting in a main-reserve entanglement. This is the same scenario that happened at Perris Valley with the Reflex rig. In the case of the Reflex rig the line snagged on the top main flap grommet", reports Dave Brownell from DB Technologies in Eloy in the rec.skydiving newsgroup.
 
Sun Path the manufacturer of the Javelin container released a Service Bulletin on March 3. It can be found at http://www.sunpath.com/bulletin1.htm.

Year after year, skydiving accident statistics show that skydivers can benefit from more frequent and thorough equipment checks, emergency procedures practice, and enhanced canopy control awareness.
 
On USPA's web site you'll find a suggested program for use during National Skydiving Safety Day, being held Saturday March 11, 2000 (or any day that works best for the drop zone and jumpers). The program emphasizes hands-on training and educational lectures with five stations, each devoted to a subject area. The stations can be conducted in a round-robin format, with groups of skydivers proceeding through each station. At the conclusion, a skydiver will have received refresher safety information and actively practiced break-aways and other emergency procedures. Join the folks at your dropzone and check out the Safety Day web site for more information.