Fatality.....

[PhreeZone 20]

Just got this from rec. and confirmed at http://www.pe.com/localnews/stories/10015879_PE_NEWS_nskydiv26.html
Man, 61, killed in sky diving accident
11/26/2001
LAKE ELSINORE - A 61-year-old man died in a sky diving accident Sunday afternoon when his parachute failed to open, a Riverside County Fire Department dispatcher said.
The Anaheim man's name was not released.
The man was part of a parachuting group with a local company, believed to be Skydive Elsinore, said Jody Hagemann, a dispatcher with Riverside County Fire Department.
The man landed in the parking lot of a used car business near Mission Trail and Lemon Street.
Anyone have any more details?
And as always, condolences for the family, friends and jumpers that are going to miss him.....
I'm not sure what to put here right now.....

[PalmettoTiger 1]

Damn. A parking lot. There's just no chance at all there.
Blues forever.

[freeflir29 0]

Damn...you know you're a BMF when you're still skydiving at 61! Way to go dude!
"Shut up Dummy!"- Fred G Sanford

[westcoastchica 0]

http://www.skydivenet.com/fatalities/fatalities_us_01.html
this page usually gets somewhat of a handle on the buzz. i haven't heard anything confirmed by a witness, but rarely do i ever take the story that the news throws out right after the incident.
this link says that neither handle was pulled and his cypres deployed his reserve...could possibly be a heart attack or stroke case...who knows?
it's tragic any which way you go about it. maybe in the next few days, some better information will be released.
it's hard not to worry when it is your home dz and you can't get a name. *sigh* as always, prayers to the family.
Lara

[skydiventom 0]

My heart aches... I think of the people that cared for and loved this person that loved skydiving so much... a good time to remember to let the people that you care for know that you do....
Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much

[quade 4]

Skydiver dies after chute failure
November 26, 2001
The Orange County Register
LAKE ELSINORE -- An Anaheim man whose parachute did not open died Sunday when he fell into the yard of a downtown auto business, authorities said.
Gerald Helms, 61, was among a group of parachutists who had taken off from an airport two miles from C & T Auto Sales. The accident was reported at 12:48 p.m., said Riverside County Sheriff's Deputy Lisa McConnell.
"His chute did not open by mechanical failure or other means," said Curtis James, deputy coroner in Riverside County.
http://futurecam.com/skydive.html

[E150 0]

God bless him and his family. :(

[quade 4]

Man who died sky-diving was pursuing his passion
Gerald Helms had a heart condition that may have caused the accident.
November 27, 2001
By VIK JOLLY
The Orange County Register
ANAHEIM -- Talk about sweeping a woman off her feet.
Thirty-five years ago, Gerald Helms planted a surprise kiss on his sweetheart's lips about 12,000 feet above Lake Elsinore as the couple sky-dived.
Soon after the "kiss pass," they married.
Knowing that sky-diving was his passion comforted Joan Helms when she learned Sunday that her husband plummeted to his death after apparently failing to open his chute.
"He said if he ever died sky-diving, he'd die doing what he enjoyed doing best," she said Monday.
Relatives said Riverside County sheriff-coroner officials told them that Helms' primary chute never deployed.
Relatives believe that Helms lost consciousness. They said an autopsy is scheduled for Friday.
The plane carrying Helms, 61, took off from a Lake Elsinore-area airfield about 12:30 p.m. Helms fell into the yard of a downtown auto business about two miles away.
A physical exam Helms took three months ago revealed that he had an enlarged heart, making him more prone to heart attacks, said C. Gray, a deputy Riverside County coroner.
Helms never told the doctor who gave him the physical that he sky-dived, nor would he have listened to suggestions not to pursue his hobby, said Joan Helms. That's just the way he was, she said.
"He was a very determined man," said Joan Helms, 58, a Fullerton Parks and Recreation employee.
Gerald Helms took up sky-diving at 18 and became a state-licensed parachute rigger. For a short time, he had his own rigging shop in the Lake Elsinore area. Because of his expertise, he worked on the 1968 movie "Gypsy Moths," starring Burt Lancaster, Gene Hackman and Deborah Kerr.
After a 30-year hiatus, Gerald Helms returned to sky-diving three years ago after helping raise three children.
It was too expensive a hobby to pursue while raising a family. Basic gear alone costs about $3,000.
A sky-diving reunion with old buddies in Palm Springs reinvigorated his fervor, and Helms got right back into the sport.
On Saturday night, Joan Helms kissed her husband goodnight and goodbye because he was to leave early Sunday to sky-dive, something he did about twice a month.
Last year he broke his left ankle twice, but that was part of the game. He wanted to make 1,000 jumps. Sunday's was his 892nd.
Helms had been working as production manager for a printing firm in Los Angeles, usually putting in about 50-60 hours a week.
When at home, his garage door was open, and he was ready to lend tools to neighbors on quiet Tango Circle in Anaheim Hills.
At night after dinner, he would sit on his favorite green rocking chair in the family room and give treats to Sydney, the family's Australian shepherd mix.
Handy around the house, Helms built bookshelves, a case for his wife's spoon collection and other artifacts that the family will remember him by.
Helms leaves his wife, daughters Julie and Jaylene, son Jim, brother Jim, mother Lucille and grandson Anthony Shaw.
Recently, he made his wife a water-wheel fountain.
Joan Helms still remembers the day her daredevil husband planned it so they would be the last two parachuting out of an airplane soaring above Lake Elsinore so he could kiss her in midair. It was a short kiss, maybe three seconds.
"We had to watch the altimeter," she said smiling. "We were going down fast." Services for Helms will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at McAulay & Wallace Mortuaries, 18311 Lemon Drive, Yorba Linda.
In lieu of flowers, the Helms family is requesting donations be made to the Ronald McDonald House, 383 S. Batavia St., Orange, CA 92868
http://futurecam.com/skydive.html

[freeflir29 0]

"He said if he ever died sky-diving, he'd die doing what he enjoyed doing best,"
Thats all that needs to be said!
"Shut up Dummy!"- Fred G Sanford

[westcoastchica 0]

Thanks for posting that article Paul. A friend at the dz said that his cypres did deploy the reserve and he was found with the toggles still stowed.
God bless his family. Takes a lot of courage to appreciate that he died doing what he loved.

[cptnstratn 0]

Thanks for the post Paul. Nice to know a little bit more behind the man.
Blue Skies Gerry!
Steve