SA man held for parachute fall
LONDON: The skydiving wife of an army sergeant suspected of tampering with her parachute to kill her had given birth to their son just over a month before she survived a terrifying 1 219.20m fall, it was revealed yesterday.
Experienced parachutist Victoria Cilliers suffered multiple broken bones when she hit the ground after her parachute and reserve canopy failed to open fully.
Although she managed to slow her fall from 160km/h to about 48km/h, police said it was miraculous that she was not killed. It emerged last night that the mother of two may owe her survival to the fact that she landed in a recently ploughed field.
Her husband Emile Cilliers, 35, was arrested last week on suspicion of her attempted murder after police revealed that vital parts of her parachute had been missing.
Last night a source close to the parachute club in Netheravon, Wiltshire, said Cilliers, 39, gave birth to son Ethan five weeks before the fall on April 5.
He added that the skydiver was “very fortunate” to land in a freshly ploughed field, and said her slight build had also helped to slow her descent.
Cilliers, who suffered broken ribs, a broken collarbone, a broken leg and spinal injuries, was yesterday at her home in nearby Amesbury after spending three weeks in hospital in Southampton. The qualified parachute instructor was seen on crutches and was wearing a body brace. Neighbours said her parents had been helping to care for her.
It was disclosed that Victoria Cilliers had posted on Facebook: “Where do I go from here? I have no idea where to start. It is a hundred times harder as I am housebound and cannot care independently for my children due to my current injuries.”
It also emerged that her South African-born husband – an instructor with the Royal Army Physical Training Corps attached to the Royal Marines – had not been living at the family home recently after moving out with their children Lily, three, and Ethan.
Wiltshire Police have described how Cilliers’s main parachute first failed to deploy, while her reserve parachute also malfunctioned but opened just enough to slow her descent from a fatal velocity before she crashed to the ground during the routine jump.
She tried to open her main parachute at 914.40m but it did not fully unfold, causing her to spin violently. She then released her reserve chute but it also failed, it was re- ported by local newspapers.
After hitting the ground she was airlifted to hospital. The concerned parachute club alerted police the next day.
Detectives said that “slinks” or soft links used to connect the canopy to the parachute harness were “missing”. Detective Inspector Paul Franklin said: “This woman would have been dead if her chute hadn’t partially opened, this meant her descent was slowed enough for her to survive the fall.
“However, we were alerted to concerns over what had happened by the parachute club and as a result instigated an investigation.
“In particular, we are looking for slinks that were missing from the parachute which may have been removed and discarded somewhere. This woman survived this fall miraculously but despite her experience she very nearly lost her life.”
Franklin added that while police have spoken to many members of the parachute club, they still wanted anyone else with information about the incident to
come forward.
Cilliers – who married Victoria in South Africa in 2011 after splitting from previous wife Carly – was released on police bail after his arrest and questioning last week.
At her home last night Cilliers said she did not want to talk about her husband being questioned by the police.
But a family friend in his 40s who had visited the modern four-bedroom detached house worth £250 000 (R4.6m) said: “She and her husband are not allowed to communicate. He is in the army. She has been through a lot of trauma.”
Emile Cilliers is a keen cricketer having been a batsman for Amesbury Cricket Club.
He was also a skier and his Facebook page shows him enjoying time on the slopes with the Royal Engineers.
It is believed his wife had jumped from a Cessna Caravan light aircraft.
It was also reported yesterday that airfield sources said she was unable to use her personal parachute that day because it had not been unpacked and inspected within the last six months.
Her husband reportedly signed out an army parachute from the airfield storeroom on behalf of his wife on Easter Saturday – but neither the police nor the army storekeeper would confirm this –