First-time skydiver deals with instructor's death, lands safely

[Mugu]

By April Bethea, charlotteobserver.com

Hanging from a parachute thousands of feet above the ground, Daniel Pharr needed to find a way to land safely.

He was on his first sky-diving jump, and he and his instructor were strapped together on the same parachute. But shortly after they leaped from the airplane at 13,500 feet, the instructor wasn't responding to Pharr's questions. George “Chip” Steele had had a medical emergency.

Pharr was on his own. Pharr said he didn't panic. It would do him no good, he thought. Instead, he reached above his head for the toggles on the parachute to try to steer it toward the ground. He'd seen enough on television shows to know the toggles could help, but wasn't quite sure how they worked.

Minutes later, both men were on the ground. Pharr wrestled himself out of his harness, and performed CPR on Steele, 49. But it was too late. Steele had died.

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/597/story/510912.html">Complete article

[TorchTheWitch]

1. That had to be really scary

Great job that guy did not only in steering himself and the instructor to the ground safely but doing all he could to try to save the instructor's life after landlng. A pity the instructor died but I'd be willing to bet he went just as he would have wanted to... quick heart attack while flying through the air doing what he loved.