Skydive turns to tragedy
Three die as chutes get tangled
A MISSION Beach motherof-eight was one of three skydivers killed in a freak skydiving accident yesterday, after her parachute became tangled on descent.
Kerri Pike, 50, the wife of former Cassowary Coast Councillor Alister Pike, was tandem skydiving with a highly experienced instructor with Skydive Mission Beach when the collision occurred yesterday afternoon.
The skydive was a 50th birthday present for Ms Pike from her husband and children.
Ms Pike’s body was found in a tree on a banana farm at 3.30pm, along with her experienced tandem instructor.
Another highly experienced instructor – who was diving solo, and had completed thousands of jumps in the past – was also found dead by a house nearby.
The incident has left the Far North Queensland community in shock, with eyewitnesses telling of the horror and helplessness of watching the fall unfold.
Witnesses watched tragedy unfold mid-air.
“You could see one chute was tangled and it wasn’t opening,” one male witness, who did not wish to be the named, said. “I was just watching him in free fall until he went behind the trees, and that was the last I saw.”
The witness said it appeared the skydiver did not activate a backup parachute after the first one failed.
The three skydivers are believed to have fallen to their deaths in a small cluster of trees out the back of Ken Barnes’ property.
“It’s all happened on my property or partly on my property,” he said. “I was in having a shower … then I just heard the sirens coming in. All of a sudden, there’s a dozen or 20 police here.”
“I don’t know how they landed, all I know is we’ve got a couple of bodies at the back of our house, under the trees in body bags. The police are all around.”
Staff at Eco Village Mission Beach said skydivers typically landed on a stretch of beach further south. Mr Barnes said his property was a considerable distance from this site. “The accident, the crash must have happened up in the air,” he said.
Queensland Ambulance Service operations supervisor Neil Noble said the injuries were “so severe” the skydivers were pronounced dead at the scene.
Skydiving has been suspended while authorities investigate.