Skydiver survives 8,000ft fall after parachute gets tangled - VIDEO

Talk about being lucky. Wonder when he'll go back to sky diving again (if at all)

A skydiver’s brush with death has been caught on video, showing his parachute failing to deploy properly and him tumbling 8,000 feet to the ground.

Craig Stapleton survived against the odds when he hit the surface at 30mph after a failed attempt at a stunt with another diver, according to ABC News.

The 51-year-old had hoped to perform a flag-release, which involved flying a flag between two free-fallers, but the trick went wrong and his parachute got stuck.

‘I felt like nothing was going right here. I knew I was going to die,’ he said.

‘I thought, “If I live through this, I’ll have months of rehab, hospitals … nothing fun again”.’

Mr Stapleton fell for three minutes as his horrified sky diving partner Katie Hanson watched on.

Even though his attempts to release his back-up chute failed, the daredevil managed to land in a vineyard on some grapes, which reduced the impact of the fall.

‘I completely lucked out,’ he said.

‘God watches out for idiots and puppy dogs, and he just let me live and walk away.’

Mr Stapleton escaped with just a dislocated shoulder and some bruising.

SOURCE

Uh, he had a chute open, it just wasn't THE parachute.

Big deal. Survive the fall with NO chute, then I'll be amazed.

reply to post by DaTroof


It's happened before... Why are you so quick to piss on everyones parade all the time?

reply to post by Wide-Eyes


Why do you care what I post? You in love with me or something? Want my CIA job? Wanna "Be Like Mike"?


Anyway, I just thought I'd point out how stupid it is to do a "flag release" when parachuting. Might as well drop a shipwreck on top of a scuba dive.

I jump.
Just having to cut away and deploy your reserve is scary enough.
Looks like this guy had RSL on his rig (Reserve Static Line) which in a way uses the main as a drogue while cutting away.

I personally don't like RSL due the possibility of entanglement with a malfunction.

Cut away, get away, deploy reserve.

Glad to see this fellow made it through this.

Originally posted by DaTroof
Uh, he had a chute open, it just wasn't THE parachute.Big deal. Survive the fall with NO chute, then I'll be amazed.

I guess its easy for us to say without us actually being involved in the jump Dont you think? Unless you're a skydiver yourself and are typing from experience

reply to post by DaTroof


Because I see you post all the time and I don't recall a single positive post. You just talk like a dick to people all the time. I'm not saying your opinions are wrong but it's the way you word things. I wanted to call you a troll but I won't.

reply to post by hp1229


Thanks for the thread hp1229, I thought it was a great story.

reply to post by Wide-Eyes


Maybe you just read my posts in a negative way. I'm smiling and happy right now.

reply to post by DaTroof


I bet you are.

reply to post by DaTroof


Wide-Eyes has got a point.
You love to be negative (so much that it probably makes you smile...but no one else)

If it's working for you, then ,
but if you find yourself consistently unhappy and let-down in life
then I'd recommend you become a little more aware of the energy your putting out and try to be more positive.

We need more smart people on the positive side,
it'd be a shame for you to waste your energy by perpetuating the negativity that already runs rampant in this world.

reply to post by Wide-Eyes

You're welcome. It is amazing how death doesn't come to people at times who live their lives dangerously but does visit folks who never expect it.

While I would like to address each of your issues with my posts, this is not the place for that. This thread went WAY off topic because someone directly attacked me. Please either get back on topic or message me your complaints.

reply to post by DaTroof


I think it would help everyone if they just read your posts in Pee Wee Herman's voice. I don't think they could be mad at you then.

I jumped when I was younger (Skydiving - Lake Elsinore, California). I don't anymore I used up all my lucky tokens. I now just trip on stuff whilst having a buzz..

That dude was lucky, and thats a fact.

someone was smiling down at him that day, but that actually happens more frequently.