Parachute snag costs B'lore woman her life

A 27-year-old adventure enthusiast from Bangalore fell to her death on Thursday, reportedly from a height of around 10,000 feet, while skydiving at the Kamalapuram airport area in the Salem district of Tamil Nadu.

The victim, V Ramya of Thrissur in Kerala, was married to Vinod, a resident of Papareddypalya in Bangalore. Ramya was scheduled to join a new job in Bangalore on Friday. A team of 10 youths, including Vinod and Ramya, registered for a skydiving camp organised by the Indian Skydiving and Parachute Association, Bangalore. They went to the camp five days ago.

“They were on a plane which was flying at a height of 10,000 feet around 12:30 pm. Three youths successfully skydived and Ramya was the next in line,” her friend Sudesh told Deccan Herald.

Ramya took the plunge at 1:10 pm. Unfortunately, her parachute malfunctioned and did not unfurl. Ramya sustained fatal injuries after hitting the ground. She was admitted to Manipal Hospital, where she was declared brought dead. Vinod was the fifth to skydive and he helplessly watched his wife falling to death, Sudesh added.The police said the exercise was called off immediately after Ramya’s fall.

“There were two trainers who accompanied her when she jumped,” one of the organisers said. “We had given her necessary gears. She was safe till 5,000 feet. It is up to the candidate to land safely after opening the parachute.”

R Sakthivel, Salem district Superintendent of Police, said: “The association had obtained all permissions to conduct skydiving training. However, it failed to provide medical facilities, including an ambulance, in case of an emergency. The victim could have been saved if she was provided immediate medical care.”

“The Omalapuram police arrested A Ankita, 28, executive secretary, Indian Skydiving and Parachute Association; G Mohana Rao, former Navy commander, Visakhapatnam; Aishwarya Yadav, 33, a male trainer from Rajasthan; and N Rajesh, 42, a trainer from Madurai,” Omalapuram police inspector Kumaresan told Deccan Herald.