Parachute incident and Staircase accident have happy outcomes

An NZONE tandem skydive jumpmaster pilot and passenger landed safely at the landing area near Jack’s Point just before midday on Tuesday (April 30) after a false alarm when a concerned member of the public reported a parachute down in the Drift Bay area.

St John Ambulance staff were stood down on route and Police didn’t attend after establishing all was well. The Queenstown, Frankton and Kingston Fire Brigades also responded after being called to the skydive parachute incident to assist St John. They too were stood down.

The emergency services were called by a concerned member of the public, says NZONE regional operations manager – NZ Louise Brown. The tandem pair landed safely on the landing area. “Both the instructor and passenger are safe with no injuries,” she says.

“The parachute was cut away and the reserve was deployed. This can occasionally happen and in skydiving it is considered a low-risk occurrence,” she says. “All tandem instructors are trained and aware of how to recover from this.”

“We have a robust Emergency Response Plan in place and should there have been an incident of concern emergency services would have been called immediately,” Brown says.

It was one of two emergency calls to the general vicinity just before midday that day. The fire brigades also attended a minor motor vehicle accident call-out on the Devil’s Staircase not far away. A media spokesperson says a car appeared to have hit the bank on the Staircase, but the brigades and ambulance weren’t required and apparently nobody was injured.

A Fire Service communications spokesperson says they received a report of a parachute down and were called to assist St John, but it turned out to be a false alarm.

Police were also called to the parachute incident on the Staircase but didn’t attend after being stood down.

All three emergency services were happy to report that both incidents had good outcomes and they weren’t required.