Canadian skydiver dies in California accident

A Canadian skydiving instructor, described as "passionate" about the sport by a former employer, is dead after attempting a risky landing in California, the Riverside Sheriff's office said Wednesday.

Mike Ungar, 32, hit the ground hard just after 5 p.m. ET Tuesday in Perris, California, and died at the scene, according to a news release from the sheriff's office.

"He just loved to skydive. He would do anything to skydive. He would get up at 6 o'clock in the morning to go up, hoping there'd be someone there to jump with," said Tim Grech, who employed Ungar during the 2010 and 2011 seasons at Niagara Skydive in Dunnville, Ont., 55 kilometres south of Hamilton.

Ungar was a fun man and a competent, experienced skydiver, said Grech, who met him five years ago.

"That's why I hired him to do tandem (jumps)," Grech said.

Ungar was originally from Aylmer, Ont., about 190 kilometres southwest of Toronto.

He moved to California to teach at Skydive Hollister after Niagara Skydive's 2011 season ended in October, Grech said.

On Tuesday, Ungar landed in a pond on the property of the Perris Valley Skydiving facility, according to the sheriff's office. Friends pulled him out of the pond and medical personnel performed CPR, but he died at the scene.

Ungar's parachute was open and his equipment was all functioning properly, said Dan Brodsky-Chenfeld, manager of Perris Valley Skydiving.

While this is the fifth fatality at Perris Valley Skydiving this year and the sixth in 15 months, Brodsky-Chenfeld said the drop zone is as safe as it possibly can be.

"Obviously, we take it very to heart," Brodsky-Chenfeld said of safety concerns. "The (United States Parachute Association) has their guidelines for safety, and we have theirs plus additional. There's only so much that you can do."

Perris Valley is a busy drop zone, said Jim Crouch, director of safety and training for the United States Parachute Association. Based on the numbers, he said, there are bound to be more deaths at that location.

"I can't think of the last time they've had a year with many fatalities, so it is unusual, but I do know they're working very hard to keep everyone as safe as possible," Crouch said.

At the time of his death, Ungar had been attempting a landing manoeuvre called "swooping," Brodsky-Chenfeld said.

A swooping manoeuvre is executed about 150 to 210 metres above the ground, Crouch said.

A skydiver accelerates by parachuting into a steep turn, moving at a speed of about 97 to 113 kilometres an hour towards the ground, Crouch said. The speed lifts the parachute as it gets closer to the ground, allowing it to fly level with the ground like an airplane when it lands.

"(Ungar) had aspirations to compete in swooping competitions," Grech said. "It is the discipline that seems to be getting the most attention in skydiving right now because it is very spectator-friendly."

But it can be risky if the skydiver misjudges the landing, Crouch said.

"People occasionally make errors with this type of landing and it results in a fatality or an injury," he said. "In the past 13 years, it's ranged anywhere from seven per year to one per year of people who have been killed attempting this type of a landing."

In 2010, 21 people in the United States died while skydiving, according to the United States Parachute Association. Out of the estimated three million jumps in the U.S. that year, there were 1,308 injuries reported.

Skydiving will never be completely safe, Crouch said, but statistically, the number of deaths is low and safety has improved over the years.

hroberts(at)postmedia.com

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Source: http://feeds.canada.com/~r/canwest/F75/~3/0UlJlPsDW_c/story.html

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