—
BASE seasons
—
BASE jumps
—
WS BASE jumps
30
Skydives
—
WS skydives
Incident
Personal
- Name:
- Don Sampson
- Gender:
- Male
- Nationality:
- American
- Age:
- —
- Experience:
- —
Equipment & Setup
- Canopy:
- —
- Canopy size:
- —
- Container:
- —
- Suit:
- Everyday Clothing worn › Slick
- Packing:
- Slider Down-Off
- Deployment:
- BOC
Circumstances
- Weather:
- Sunny Winds light and variable
- Factors:
- Proximity flying
Description
Don had 30 skydives and an unknown amount of BASE jumps when he had another person pack his parachute for this jump.
The report included the line, Don is an idiot when it came to assessing risks.
On a previous occasion he decided to teach a climbing buddy of his to BASE jump.
He correctly figured some skydiving experience would be helpful so he forged a logbook to make his buddy look USPA B license qualified.
The report stated, Don took this two-way out of a plane that almost killed them both. He later took this same friend off a tower.
Don flew himself into a corner, after this bridge jump, and panic hooked himself into the canyon wall.
He died from severe head trauma.
This and the only previous fatality from this bridge both involve canopy control problems in the tight landing area.