BFL
French

BFL19 · 17.2.1989

Jean-Marc Boivin

French

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BASE seasons

BASE jumps

WS BASE jumps

Skydives

WS skydives

Incident

Incident category:
BASE Fatality
ID:
BFL19
Object:
Earth
Cause of death:
Skydive Gear Used
Date:
17. 02. 1989
Time:
Exit point:
Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) › Venezuela › Angel Falls

Other incidents at this location: BFL25

Exit type:
Vertical

Personal

Name:
Jean-Marc Boivin
Gender:
Male
Nationality:
French
Age:
Experience:

Equipment & Setup

Canopy:
Canopy size:
Container:
Suit:
Everyday Clothing worn › Slick
Packing:
Deployment Bag
Deployment:

Circumstances

Weather:
Sunny
Factors:
180 Offheading Line twists

Description

This report is from a witness. I was there at Salto Angel, and I can say nobody saw the entire jump. Considering the trauma Jean-Marc experienced (he died from wounds in his legs and the loss of a lot of blood) I can tell you he hit the wall, for sure.


Jean-Marc is jumping a very small canopy, a skydiving reserve canopy with a attachment point, called the Vega 180. The canopy is packed in a deployment bag. Speculation is he had severe line twists after opening, hit the wall, and then experienced a hard out of control landing in the trees.


Previous to Jean-Marc's leap another jumper, named Catherine, had jumped and also hit the wall. The helicopter (there to ferry jumpers up to the top) mistook Jean-Marc's waves for help as a sign he was all right and went off to rescue Catherine. When it returned Jean-Marc is dead. Jean-Marc was a modern day adventurer who excelled at many disciplines.


In 1988, he is the first to Parapente (Paraglide) from the summit of Mt. Everest.

Gallery

Lost, but not forgotten...