‘The last thing I remember is trying to get some kind of control… then everything went black’

A soft patch of newlyploughed field was the only thing that saved the life of Victoria Cilliers after her nearfatal fall.

On Easter Sunday in 2015, the highly-experienced parachutist made a routine recreational jump at Netheravon airfield in Wiltshire.

As she jumped from the aircraft, first of all her main parachute malfunctioned.

A rare but not unheard of problem had occurred where her lines were twisted, and she followed her training and cut away the canopy of the main 0 Victoria Cilliers made the jump from Netheravon Airfield parachute.

But in an unprecedented incident, her reserve parachute then failed.

Two slinks were missing, meaning that the main lines on one side of the canopy were not connected to her harness, with a brake cable the only thing attached on that side.

This caused the reserve to not inflate properly and led to her spiralling out of control and at high speed to the ground.

As Winchester Crown Court heard, the equipment had never failed in this manner anywhere in the world.

In one of the flashpoints of the trial, Ms Cilliers, described the final moments of her rapid descent.

The 41-year-old recalled: “The last thing I remember is trying to get some kind of control over it, trying to open as many cells as I could – then everything went black. I do not know if it was the G force or the impact but everything cut out.”

Her survival has been described as a “near miracle” and the only reason she did not suffer fatal injuries was the soft soil of the ploughed field where she landed.

Her light weight was also attributed as a factor in helping to minimise her injuries.

But her final piece of luck was that the spot where she landed was just 16 feet from a small country lane, which would undoubtedly have caused fatal injuries.