BFL117 | 7.9.2007

Bert Brooks

from United States of America

Read More

Unknown

BASE SEASONS

Unknown

SKYDIVES

Unknown

WS SKYDIVES

Unknown

BASE JUMPS

Unknown

WS BASE JUMPS
  • Date & Time: 7.9.2007, 14:00
  • Location: Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland
  • Category: BASE Fatality
  • Object Type: Earth
  • Cause Of Death: Object strike under canopy
  • Clothing - Suit: SlickSlick by Everyday Clothing worn
  • Canopy: Unknown
  • Container: Unknown
  • Packing & Setup: Slider Up BOC Vertical
  • Weather: Sunny, Winds light and variable
  • Possible Factors: 180 Offheading, Not enough forward seperation on exit

What do we believe happened?

Bert was with his girlfriend Michelle on a BASE vacation in Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland. Conditions were good, and this particular jump occurred a bit after 2pm local time. Michelle jumped first, landed, and turned to watch Bert's jump. He was using a 34 pilot chute expecting to get full terminal airspeed but had to pitch between 5 and 7 seconds. It is unclear why, but he was too close to the wall to continue freefall. Bert pitched and opened with a 180 facing the wall. Bert struck the wall multiple times and was reported to be unresponsive after the first strike. Bert made it a point to never wear a helmet. Had he chose otherwise it could have given him a chance to fight and turn after that first strike. We will never know but hopefully will think twice ourselves about protective gear.

Contact

Missing something?

Can you help us with incident interpretation? We are interested in any details regarding personal experience, gear, weather conditions and any other circumstances related to the incident.

Sending...
Your message was sent, thank you!