19-year-old parachutist dies in fall at Portimão Aerodrome

Alex Englefield 26 August 2019

parachutist aerodrome A 19-year-old Portuguese boy died this weekend at about 10:15 am on Saturday morning at the Portimão Municipal Aerodrome in Alvor, following a "possible technical failure in equipment" during a parachute jump, announced the District Command for Relief Operations (CDOS) in Faro.

Ricardo Marques, commander of the Portimão Fire Department revealed that the young man, who was a resident of Portimão, "hit the ground very violently" and suffered fatal injuries.

“We tried to attend to his injuries immediately, we have a year-round medical detachment at the Aerodrome, but there was nothing to do. In such a way that when INEM ambulances arrived ten minutes later, the boy was declared dead on the spot," he added.

As for the causes of the accident, Marques says that the GNR are still investigating the incident, although, as the CDOS stated, there is an indication that there might have been a technical failure.

In all, there were ten people on location to deal with the incident, supported by four vehicles, from the Firefighters of Portimão, the GNR, and INEM.

Comments

+3 #2 Paul james 2019-08-27 10:33

It seems that this facility should be closed until safety can be guaranteed. 4 deaths in recent years is clearly 4 too many. I was thinking of doing a charity parachute jump next year but there is no way I would chance it. A thorough investigation is required before more people are killed.

+8 #1 Dolphie 2019-08-26 22:42

There have been at least 4 deaths in the last 10 years at this place, one of which was my neighbours son. This was a technical equipment problem. I don't know the global odds of parachute failure but in our small community the failure rate seems high??

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