Danny Jackson

Please note this fatality was professionally guided.

Danny and I started the hike around noon and arrived at the exit point around 5, we laughed and joked and took our time.

Once on top, we took a rest and started slowly gearing up and going over his flight plan.

He said he was going to push off and “beat” the suit and then turn right and pull high.

I have never heard “beat” the suit and reminded him to just execute this jump the same as his balloon jumps which were great. I also mentioned to fly straight out and then turn a little right towards the LZ and pull high, to which he agreed.

We went over the basics of the landing pattern, took a picture together, and had a high 5.

The baring classic exit is big, 32x,-309y meters and is 2 piece track-able. The wind conditions on exit and landing were both 3-6 mph from left to right.

Danny had a great push and I was vocally excited to see this as he launched from view with great body position.

12 seconds later I heard a loud bang, like maybe a parachute opening but it was probably the first impact, and then a few seconds later another even louder bang which I knew was an impact.

There is no cellular service at Baring Mountain and I thought the fastest way to actually get a helicopter out would be to get to cell service as soon as possible even though we both had garmin beacons.

I made the decision to jump and video his location so that search and rescue would have an easier time getting to him. S&R was notified in less than an hour. There was no turbulence on my exit or flight.

It’s impossible to know exactly what happened, but I believe he stalled his suit and lost control subterminal, maybe trying to turn right too early. He may have emergency pulled.

As I flew over, I saw him laying on a ledge around 600-700 meters below the exit, slightly to the right in the direction of the LZ, and probably 200 meters away from the exit with canopy out.

The recovery took 46 hours due to the rugged terrain he came to rest on. It was a mix of helicopter support and mountaineering.

He was never left alone there, and had his family and a friend in the area until he was recovered. They did not find his GoPro.

Danny was a war veteran, a professional deep sea scuba diver, a father to a young man as well as his canine, and a friend.