Skydiver suspended at 15,000 feet after parachute gets snagged on plane's tail

A skydiving trip in Australia took a harrowing turn when one person’s parachute became entangled in the tail of the plane, stranding them at 15,000 feet

A skydiving trip in Australia took a harrowing turn when one person’s parachute became entangled in the tail of the plane, stranding them at 15,000 feet.

The aircraft, a Cessna 208 Caravan, was carrying one pilot and 17 parachutists, including a camera operator, on Sept. 20 as they attempted a 16-person formation jump over the northernmost part of the state of Queensland.

The camera operator stepped out first, holding on to the fuselage of the plane. When the first skydiver emerged, a handle securing their reserve chute got caught on the plane’s flap over the wing, prompting the chute to deploy inadvertently, according to a video and a report about the incident released Thursday by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau.

The chute dragged the skydiver backward, knocking the camera operator off the plane and into free fall. The skydiver, who has not been publicly identified, flew straight into the plane’s horizontal stabilizer on the left side of the tail, and the chute became wrapped around it, leaving the skydiver suspended.

The parachutist was pulled off the side of the aircraft toward the tail, dislodging the camera operator into free fall. Australian Transport Safety BureauThe pilot, unaware of what had happened, felt the aircraft suddenly pitch up, and noticed the airspeed rapidly decreasing. Believing the aircraft had stalled, the pilot increased power to regain airspeed but reduced it after being told a skydiver was hung up on the tail.