Skydiver with dwarfism had twice backed out of jump that killed her
A SKYDIVER fell to her death on her third attempt at jumping after twice deciding she couldn’t go through with it.
Pamela Gower plunged 15,000 feet from a plane after her parachute failed to open.
The 49-year-old, who had dwarfism, had gone up in the aircraft with her instructor Michelle Meakins, and twice was too scared to jump alone.
Just hours before her fatal attempt, she told the instructor: ‘My mind wants to do it but my body doesn’t.’
Miss Gower, who had done skydives before including one to raise money for Cancer Research UK, was taking part in one of her first jumps without holding onto an instructor when she died on September 10. Miss Meakins had encouraged her, saying: ‘I know it’s nerve-wracking but you don’t need me to hold onto you.’
Miss Gower, from Hebburn in South Tyneside, did eventually jump – but while attempting a ‘barrel roll’ manoeuvre she began to spin and lost control. An inquest heard her short stature made it more difficult for her to stabilise herself in the air, and she fell unconscious as she hurtled towards the ground.
Video footage of the fatal jump showed Miss Gower trying to deploy the parachute two or three times, but the G-force from the spin – greater than that experienced by a fighter pilot – was just too strong.
The employment adviser at Remploy, which helps disabled adults into work, had a specially adapted harness because of her height.
Miss Gower was found on a housing estate close to the airfield at Shotton Colliery, County Durham, where her plane had taken off. She was airlifted to hospital but could not be saved.
Tony Butler, of the British Parachute Association, told the inquest it would have been harder for Miss Gower to stabilise herself by arching her body because of her dwarfism. He said: ‘ Part of arch is to extend your limbs and as she has short limbs it would be difficult.’
Senior Coroner Andrew Tweddle told the hearing in Crook, County Durham: ‘So what we have is exceptional circumstances affecting a diver who is partially trained, and because of her unique stature, that made it difficult for her to recover through the arching technique. It’s a combination of things all going wrong at the same time that led to the fatal outcome of this situation.’
Giving evidence, Miss Meakins said she had become good friends with Miss Gower and described her as ‘very determined’. Although Miss Gower had done skydives before, the instructor insisted that she practised with her at a wind tunnel before taking her for a real jump.
She said: ‘ For my own peace of mind as an instructor I wanted to fly with her in a wind tunnel and take on board myself that she was satisfactory to fly. She achieved that.’
Ian Rosenvinge, owner of the Peterlee Parachute Centre which organised the jump, passed on condolences to Miss Gower’s family. Relatives questioned whether too much time had elapsed between each of her dives.
Recording a verdict of misadventure, Mr Tweddle said Miss Gower was ‘properly prepared’ for the jump. He said her back-up parachute eventually deployed but she suffered fatal injuries as she hit the ground.
Miss Gower’s friend Tony Layton, 46, said: ‘ She was very outgoing, a very adventurous person. She lived life to the full, and visited Australia and China. She was into skydiving for a few years. She used to do a lot of tandem jumps and was training to be a skydiving instructor.’
Mr Layton’s wife Lynne, 54, added: ‘Pamela did not let her disability rule her life in any way. She was very headstrong. She had a lot of friends.’
The coroner said he would write to the British Parachute Association to call for a review of rules surrounding the amount of time learners can take between jumps. Mr Butler told the inquest this was already under way.
‘All going wrong at the same time’