Mid-air collision may have led to fatal parachute mishap, police say
Man, 27, from Sudbury, Ont., died during Rockstar Boogie event
A man who died after a parachuting mishap Saturday morning in Gatineau, Que., may have collided with another parachutist, according to Gatineau police.
The 27-year-old man from Sudbury, Ont., was found unconscious in the backyard of a Gatineau home a few kilometres north of the airport around 10:30 a.m. Saturday. He was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The man was performing a "wingsuit" skydive jump during the third annual Rockstar Boogie, where participants take part in unconventional jumps such as joining a group of parachutists to create shapes mid-air.
Though the investigation is in its early stages, police said their most likely hypothesis is that there was a collision between two parachutists before the man fell to the ground. It's not clear whether the man was unconscious before he landed.
Gatineau police said it's also possible the man's parachute didn't open correctly.
Another parachutist, Roman Turetsky, said he was shaken after learning of his friend's death.
"I have no feeling... no nothing now, my soul is empty," said Turetsky, who vowed to continue jumping despite the incident.
"I'm doing it again," he said. "He would want us to continue jumping. He died doing what he loved the most."
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 experienced an equipment failure and landed in a field south of Petawawa, Ont.