The ‘Spring Boogie 2016’ festival starts this coming weekend at the Alvor aerodrome in Portimão.
Around 250 skydivers are expected to turn up on Saturday, April 2nd to the event organised by Skydive Algarve and participants are booked in from Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Ireand Norway, the UK, Spain and Portugal.
The aircraft used, Dornier G92s, will enable 15 people to jump in each flight and the organisers say that safety is a priority. This is against a background of a recent string of deaths causing local and national concern.
Four skydivers have died at the Alvor aerodrome since 2012 when the Algarve community was shocked at the death of local businessman Jonathon Wickham of Ozshades whose parachute either was not opened or failed to open on a jump from 12,000 feet.
The next year, Portuguese skydiver Ana Peixoto died in another skydiving accident, followed a few months later by a German, Stefan Hewekeri.
In October 2015 a British man died at the Alvor aerodrome but there has been no suggestion that the organisers have been to blame with weather and skydiver error blamed for these violent deaths and the Spring Boogie event remains popular with skydivers for whom risk is part of the excitement.
