CERI’S CHUTED TO

AS THE sound of the Hercules faded behind him parachutist Ceri Marshman pulled his cord – but something was wrong. With his lines twisting above him the 41-year-old was spinning beneath the canopy. He needed to decide what to do, fast.

The flight sergeant’s kicked in immediately.

“I had a malfunction where I had to cut my main chute but you’re trained and rely on a reserve canopy,” the RAF Falcons coach said.

“You don’t have time to think. The drill that I was taught I did without having to think.

“I just felt relief when the reserve canopy opened.”

The mishap happened during a display.

“We had just left the tailgate of a C-130 aircraft,” Ceri said.

“I got into a rapid twist and was in close proximity to other parachutists. training

“I could have hit someone and had to cut the canopy.”

The result could have been catastrophic.

“It was all over in a few seconds. I hadn’t had time to go through the thought processes before it was all over,” Ceri said.

“You focus on landing safely and then there is just relief and trying to go through what happened – but it happened so quickly.”

It happened at RAF Brize Norton in 2008.

Ceri joined the military 19 years ago.

“I have seen several accidents and incidents, it’s the nature of the sport, or the job, that you learn to take it on board,” he said.

“One of my close colleagues died and another was severely injured.”

When the dad-of-three from Llwynypia in Rhondda Cynon Taf joined the RAF he was a physical training instructor. He did that for six years.

“On promotion I had to special- ise,” he said. “At the time I wanted to be a physio but there were no spaces and I had to become a parachute instructor.

“Not being a big fan of heights that was not too great.”

But he learned that “you just get used to it”.

“The more parachuting you do and the higher you go, the less frightening it is,” he said.

“The closer to the ground you are the scarier it is,” he said.

“If I were to put you on top of a telegraph pole and say ‘jump’ it would be quite scary. But once you get to 12,000ft your perspective is changed.”

His children “love” having an action man dad.

“But I’m trying to convince them not to be parachutists,” Luton University graduate Ceri said.

“I don’t want my daughters jumping out of planes! I want them to be doctors or bankers.”

After spending the winter training in California, Ceri is about to start his third season as Falcons coach. Their launch day is on Friday at RAF Brize Norton.

“When I returned to the RAF Falcons as the team coach I was honoured, proud and elated,” Ceri said.

“For the third year I am looking forward to managing a team of highly motivated personnel and leading the displays into high profile events.”

For more visit www.raf.mod. uk/falcons