Yegor Drozdov

This report is from a local and very experienced BASE jumper. Unfortunately, we had a fatality here yesterday. Reports are thin, because the jumper was alone. We do have some tourist reports from the overlook. Conditions were very bad, so bad that none of the locals believed this was really a BASE fatality at first, as we all thought it impossible that anyone would have decided to jump in the very strong and extremely turbulent winds. From my initial conversation with the coroner, it appears (I have not examined the gear, so this is going off what the non-jumping medical examiner was able to relay over the phone from my questions) that impact occurred at high speed with a closed container, but with the PC fully deployed. My best guess is that the jump took place in a very high tailwind (weather history shows 32-39 mph winds at the time of the accident) and that the jumper experienced a wind induced bridle entanglement (possible from pitching early with a high tailwind, and getting the PC blown back under the arm/body). Sheriff dispatch reported a call from a jumper just before the jump [as per local protocols] followed within 10 minutes by a call from a spectator who had observed the impact. No jumpers observed the accident, so all my information is 4th hand at this point. I'm hoping to have a look at the gear sometime in the next few days. A report issued by local authorites on 4/12/07 is now saying Yegor was found with the bridle still wrapped around his hand. This is the fifth Perrine Bridge fatality and Twin Falls' sixth BASE fatality overall (the former being from another area bridge). The five Perrine fatalities all appear to be from pilot chute problems that led too late, or no canopy deployments at all.