E Rach Donovan

Free-style foam in the arm-wing

Description:

While zipping up his wingsuit on the edge of the exit point, Eric formulated a last-minute plan with his jumping partner (who was jumping slider-down) to do a flyby once they were under canopy. As instructed by Eric, the jumping partner took a 3 second delay, turned 45 degrees right and then turned back toward the flight line. There was no communication before the jump as to where the slider down jumper should be exactly (height or location over terrain) and no communication technology used to adjust their flight once under canopy. 16 seconds after his jumping partner left the exit, Eric can be heard on the video giving direction to be lower in the terrain, but at this point in the jump this instruction can only be characterized as narration as his jumping partner was so far away there was no possibility for them to hear what he was saying.

After an uneventful exit and smooth transition into full-flight, Eric turned his flight line 15-20 degrees to the right and successfully flew by the open canopy 15 seconds into his flight. His position at the fly-by was over the last ledge of the talus and approximately 150ft above the terrain. Immediately following the flyby, Eric initiated his flare and reached for his PC. At this point he was on level and approximately 500ft ahead of the open canopy. The handle was clearly exposed and sticking out past the sidewall of the container, but Eric was only able to get a finger on it. As the flight continued, he bent forward (de-arching with his head down) and continually attempted to grasp the handle. During the 6 seconds he attempted to pull the handle, he maintained the same de-arched position. Approximately 100ft over the terrain, he returned to full flight and impacted 3.5 seconds later in the flat terrain approximately 50ft from the river-bank.