SEALs' Own Errors Led to Chute Deaths

[unhappycamper]

SEALs' Own Errors Led to Chute Deaths
February 07, 2009
Arizona Daily Star

Two seasoned Navy SEALs who died during parachute training near Marana last year made mistakes that hurled them to their deaths, military investigators have determined.

Both had jumped safely hundreds of times before in practice and in combat, yet succumbed to human error despite their vast expertise, official reports on the deaths concluded.

A Tucson-area resident accomplished in military parachuting, who reviewed the reports at the Arizona Daily Star's request, called the Navy's findings "very mystifying" considering the extensive experience of both SEALs.

The Navy on Friday released results of its inquiries into the accidents that claimed Special Warfare Operator Senior Chief Thomas J. Valentine, 37, and Chief Special Warfare Operator Lance M. Vaccaro, 35.

The two died within three weeks of each other in separate mishaps last winter after taking off from the Parachute Training and Testing Facility at Pinal Air Park, just north of Marana. An Army Ranger doing parachute training died at the same site less than six months later.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/news/article/seals-own-errors-led-to-chute-deaths.html?col=1186032310810