Sudbury, Ont., man dies in Gatineau parachute mishap
Gatineau police investigating, say parachute may not have opened correctly
A 27-year-old man from Sudbury, Ont., is dead after a parachuting mishap near the Gatineau-Ottawa Executive Airport.
The man was found unconscious in the backyard of a home just a few kilometres north of the airport at around 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Gatineau police told Radio-Canada.
The man was pronounced dead in hospital.
Gatineau police are investigating and said the parachute may not have opened correctly.
Was performing a 'wingsuit' jump
In a written statement, Parachute Gatineau-Ottawa Skydive (Go Skydive) said the man was an experienced parachutist who was performing a "wingsuit" type of skydive jump during the Rockstar Boogie event.
The event drew participants from all over Canada and from around the world.
"The parachuting community and the large parachuting family at Go Skydive offers its thoughts to the family and friends of the parachutist," the company's statement said in French.
The company also said it will cooperate with the authorities that are investigating the incident.
Unconventional jumps
Participants in the 3rd annual Rockstar Boogie take part in unconventional jumps such as joining a group of parachutists to create shapes mid-air.
This is the second death of a skydiver near Ottawa in the last two weeks.
On Aug. 27, Betiana Namambwe Mubili, 29, was performing a solo jump when she had an equipment failure and landed in a field south of Petawawa.
Corrections
- A previous version of this story indicated the parachute jumper was from Gatineau, not Sudbury.Sep 10, 2017 5:01 PM ET
With files from Radio-Canada