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Girl, 16, survives fall of over 3,000ft


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Makenzie Wethington had been on a skydiving trip as a treat for her birthday when disaster struck.

The 16-year-old had jumped from the plane over Oklahoma when her parachute became tangled and failed to open properly. Instructors had attempted to offer her assistance over a headset, however she appeared to black out and subsequently plummeted more than 3,000ft to the ground.

Read More: http://www.unexplained-mysteries.com/news/261697/girl-16-survives-fall-of-over-3000ft

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"He subsequently blamed the skydiving company for allowing his daughter to jump."

Wait what? Her father bought her the trip... how is he gonna blame the company that requires PARENTAL CONSENT? !

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"He subsequently blamed the skydiving company for allowing his daughter to jump."

Wait what? Her father bought her the trip... how is he gonna blame the company that requires PARENTAL CONSENT? !

I can not see how he can blame them for allowing her to jump, but he sure can blame them for giving her a dodgy parachute.

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Well, I guess she's one of the very few who get the "I jumped out of a plane without a working parachute and lived" award.

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'God caught her': Teenage girl survives 3,500ft fall after birthday skydiving trip almost turned to tragedy when her parachute failed to open.

On the contrary, God messed up her parachute and Mother Earth caught her. Alternate possibility, one god screwed with her gear and another god caught her. We of course know that there exists many gods among all the religions. So which god was the culprit is a case for the religious authorities to solve.

Edited by Ashyne
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On the contrary, God messed up her parachute and Mother Earth caught her. Alternate possibility, one god screwed with her gear and another god caught her. We of course know that there exists many gods among all the religions. So which god was the culprit is a case for the religious authorities to solve.

This has nothing to do with gods or mother nature.

It was human error (like most things in these kind of situations)

NOTHING to do with religion!

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I'm a skydiver and these reports are misleading. The girl had a malfunction on her main. She had a spinning malfunction into the ground. She had a canopy open, but she had a malfunction. Let me say this, NO ONE has ever survived a terminal velocity fall from a skydive without some sort of canopy open above their heads. This was a USPA dropzone and it was a static line jump. She jumped out of the plane and a line automatically deploys her main parachute. for some reason, she did not or could not begin her emergency procedures to cutaway her main and deploy her reserve. She stayed in the spinning malfunction until she impacted the ground.

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It was human error (like most things in these kind of situations)

I agree, but the article suggests also that it was correctable human error.

It states with the limited training she had, and the wireless connection to the instructor, she should have been able to correct the issue - but she didn't. It's reported she may have lost consciousness - or perhaps she panicked/froze?

Regardless I don't see they'd have any case against the skydiving company. She is a very lucky young lady.

Edited by Leonardo
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I'm a skydiver and these reports are misleading. The girl had a malfunction on her main. She had a spinning malfunction into the ground. She had a canopy open, but she had a malfunction. Let me say this, NO ONE has ever survived a terminal velocity fall from a skydive without some sort of canopy open above their heads. This was a USPA dropzone and it was a static line jump. She jumped out of the plane and a line automatically deploys her main parachute. for some reason, she did not or could not begin her emergency procedures to cutaway her main and deploy her reserve. She stayed in the spinning malfunction until she impacted the ground.

No one does do true static line anymore, do they?

My brother instructs. He has about 2,500 jumps and he 's tossed out at least twice as many (me included 20 years ago).

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I agree, but the article suggests also that it was correctable human error.

It states with the limited training she had, and the wireless connection to the instructor, she should have been able to correct the issue - but she didn't. It's reported she may have lost consciousness - or perhaps she panicked/froze?

Regardless I don't see they'd have any case against the skydiving company. She is a very lucky young lady.

Correctable for someone who knows how or conscious to adhere to the instructions being given. It appears she may well have blacked out over panic....all the more reason her father should not have taken her to do this, he would/should have known if she were up for this kind of adventure.

Yes, very lucky girl indeed.

Edited by freetoroam
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Wow! She's lucky! I'm glad she came out of this okay. Tough lady indeed!! :nw:

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I agree, but the article suggests also that it was correctable human error.

It states with the limited training she had, and the wireless connection to the instructor, she should have been able to correct the issue - but she didn't. It's reported she may have lost consciousness - or perhaps she panicked/froze?

Regardless I don't see they'd have any case against the skydiving company. She is a very lucky young lady.

Like cgowens alluded to, when you spin under a partial canopy, it's the worst ride of your life. It's your call to either ride it or cut it away. She was probably unable.

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I'm a skydiver and these reports are misleading. The girl had a malfunction on her main. She had a spinning malfunction into the ground. She had a canopy open, but she had a malfunction. Let me say this, NO ONE has ever survived a terminal velocity fall from a skydive without some sort of canopy open above their heads. This was a USPA dropzone and it was a static line jump. She jumped out of the plane and a line automatically deploys her main parachute. for some reason, she did not or could not begin her emergency procedures to cutaway her main and deploy her reserve. She stayed in the spinning malfunction until she impacted the ground.

What about people that have been thrown from a plane and survived. There was one that was a WW2 pilot and there was one that was a flight attendant when a bomb I believe went off. They had no canopy open above their heads and they lived.

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The most important thing is that she is still among the living. And it was PURE DUMB LUCK that saved her, nothing more, nothing less.

Edited by ancient astronaut
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Correctable for someone who knows how or conscious to adhere to the instructions being given. It appears she may well have blacked out over panic....all the more reason her father should not have taken her to do this, he would/should have known if she were up for this kind of adventure.

Yes, very lucky girl indeed.

Indeed. Why not sign her up for a tandem jump first?

It seems a reckless decision for noobs to think they will be okay with solo jumps from the very off.

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Indeed. Why not sign her up for a tandem jump first?

It seems a reckless decision for noobs to think they will be okay with solo jumps from the very off.

I made the assumption this could not have been her first jump, I thought all first jumps were tandem, it would be ridiculous for a noob to know how to control a chute or land correctly - surely there would be regulations about this very thing.

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