On the morning of 23rd of June we took the first gondola from Unterwasser to do the jump from Sputnik. Everything went fine, Eric flew for his first time the Trench-Line. At the landing area we met other jumpers who had rented a helicopter for these days (including the helicopter crew). Actually the plan was to go to the train station to go back to Unterwasser and make another BASE jump but while stashing in the parachutes we got into a conversation with the crew of the helicopter and got a good offer. After the jumpers who had actually rented the helicopter had also agreed, we packed the parachutes and did the necessary paperwork.
During the safety briefing with the pilot, we went through our jump plan. The plan was to do a threeway, jump off just before Chäserrugg and then fly west and following the mountain range. At about the position of the exit Sputnik we wanted to turn in and then fly the well known lines. Eric’s plan was to fly the Trench-Line like the jump in the morning (if it were perfectly possible, otherwise he wanted to go straight to the landing area).
In the beginning after the exit (X1 of my Flysight track) we flew like we did the plan. The third guy of us was a little to fast, so after a short time he was out of range and it was just Eric and I who were flying together.
Along the mountains were some clouds, the rest was in an absolutely perfect view. When we got closer to the mountains (and to the turning point), Eric was flying right (in the direction of the clouds) and was turning left again after a few seconds. For me it was the last time to do the turn as planed so I flew to the left, but i could see for a second from that point of view that Eric had flown to the right again (X2 on my Flysight track, X3 - position where he was found).
Eric was always very careful he checked every thing twice and was always asking everyone for absolutely every detail in this sport. It was always his dream to do Wingsuit-BASE, this was the reason why he was starting Skydiving. He was absolutely focused on his goal, nearly every jump was a training jump, he read all the BASE books and knew the possibility’s and the risks of the sport. For his last flight he was well prepared, so we absolutely can’t understand why he was flying so close along the clouds in the mountains. It was against the plan we arranged and against his own safety rules.
After we decided to do the Heli jump and the crew accepted the deal, Eric was one of the happiest persons in the world. He also said it is the best day in his life. I guess, he was that euphoric, that he lost the altitude awareness on the risk of the clouds and the mountains.
Probably some questions will never get answered. Everyone who knows Eric, knew that he was a really special guy but with his head in the right place.
We lost a very good friend and we will miss you buddy, so now you can fly along the clouds, we’re going to visit you there.