Skydiver Killed After Collision During Jump

HONOLULU -- Authorities say a skydiving instructor has been killed after a collision with another skydiver during a jump.

Hawaii News Now reports that Ash White died after the collision around 7:45 a.m. Sunday. The other skydiver was able to open his parachute and land safely. He suffered only scrapes and bruises.

Hawaii News Now says White was an experienced skydiver, who worked for Skydive Hawaii out of Dillingham Airfield.

Both skydivers had more than 15,000 career jumps.

Comments

[slackgeek]

01:36 AM on 07/12/2011

What's the hardest thing about skydiving?

The ground.

[Blackspeare]

09:26 AM on 07/11/2011

I've seen this before----one diver is over confident and tries a face-off to show his prowess, but either miscalculated or there was a gust and struck the other diver. Lucky one was able to recover in time and operate the chute. What a shame.

[sekigahara]

06:38 AM on 07/14/2011

Gust? The were falling at well over a hundred miles per hour - head down - called Freeflying. Probably over a 150 mph. Face off? It was at breakoff - they were transitioning from vertical to horizontal - this wasn't some sort of "Hey, look at me!" thing. Not how it happened - not by a long shot. Have you even skydived? Do you freefly?

[Stanley Seay]

09:19 AM on 07/11/2011

Ok, for all you parrots out there that don't know what you're talking about, let me lay some facts on you. First of all, there is no such thing in existence as a "perfectly good airplane". None of them are perfect, that's why they all require scheduled maintenance and inspections, yet we still have planes crashes. So forget about how clever you think you sound when you try to use that stupid line. Secondly, last year there were approximately 3 million skydives and yet only twenty-one deaths in the U.S., so not exactly a high risk activity by any means. Nobody is surprised that accidents happen and people die sometimes, however, the very fact that they report it every time it happens is evidence that it is still somewhat rare, particularly in comparison to something that is truly dangerous like driving or riding in an automobile.

[oldsquare]

08:02 AM on 07/11/2011

For some reason, many of the comments here are defensive in nature. I don't see anyone attempting to outlaw skydiving, nor do I see anything wrong with others considering it a stupid activity. Either is acceptable; neither is right nor wrong. Unfortunately none of the arguments changes the fact that White is dead. In this particular case, it appears the "accident" was avoidable. As is usual, accidents involve two mistakes; here, the first was not avoiding the collision, the second was the inability to recover.

[sekigahara]

06:41 AM on 07/14/2011

It is a high speed environment and in such an environment, intangibles can make all the difference. This isn't a matter of being defensive - simply a matter of laying out the facts and what's likely.

[shespeaks]

07:48 AM on 07/11/2011

My son and his wife wanted to buy me a tandem jump when they were living in Hawaii. I chickened out. Now I've signed up in PA. Suddenly it didn't seem so scary. Accidents happen. Flukes. In this sport, they often happen when the jumper is experienced and forgoes extra caution. I'm going to pair up with someone less than Captain America. Next...a tattoo...and all over the age of sixty.Crossing my fingers on both accounts. Carpe Deum.

[kylie523]

09:28 AM on 07/11/2011

it's 'diem.' carpe diem

[shespeaks]

10:40 AM on 07/11/2011

crap. All those years in Catholic school did no good at all, Latin-wise.

[Lady Nature]

06:52 AM on 07/11/2011

Adventure sports always carry risk which is why we are drawn to them. Life is for the living. RIP to the deceased.

[Keyop]

06:41 AM on 07/11/2011

Never jump out of a perfectly good airplane

[EdRea]

07:36 AM on 07/11/2011

OK, Leg. ;-)

[Stanley Seay]

08:50 AM on 07/11/2011

What misleads you to think there are "perfectly good airplanes"?

[impermanentlife]

05:12 AM on 07/11/2011

Sorry for the accident, but he did what he wanted and this was an accident. I have hung around sky divers who did cocaine and beer. All of them made it while I knew them. Getting born is a high risk activity because eventually, you will die.

Eat, drink, and be merry. Maybe tomorrow you may collide with something and it will be over.

[Bumble Bee]

05:10 AM on 07/11/2011

Last I heard, it is still a free country. If someone wants to skydive, it is their choice. All you critics - please, crawl back into your personal comfort zone and live your own life.

[thawalkingman]

05:01 AM on 07/11/2011

It fascinates me how many people think they are leading 'safe' lives.

We are all dying. The cemetery is filled with people who died living safe lives.

Your drive to work is more dangerous than sky diving. No one says 'tisk tisk' that's what you get when you live life on the edge, when someone dies in a car wreck or from a fall in the bathroom.

They died doing what they loved sure. But more importantly they didn't die from boredom wrapped in a cozy illusion of safety.

We are all going to die. The only question is how are we going to live. And in that respect I believe Ash probably had a pretty good life.

[EdRea]

07:44 AM on 07/11/2011

"Your drive to work is more dangerous than sky diving."

That's only because a huge segment of the population drives while only a minuscule portion skydive. If as many people skydived as drove cars -- skydiving would likely be considered the more dangerous of the two activities.

Not that I'm advocating *not skydiving. It's a worthwhile sport and people should go with their own comfort (and realistic skill!) levels for any sport they partake. To paraphrase your own point, it's better to die doing something you really love than to die safe and bored.

[edm40]

03:37 AM on 07/11/2011

sky diving forget it. That's an awful way to go even though dying is bad as it is.

[Stanley Seay]

09:22 AM on 07/11/2011

Yeah, because we all know that it's much better to die hiding in a closet eating processed foods and smoking cigarettes.

[lovelybunchofcoconuts]

03:29 AM on 07/11/2011

That seems like really, really bad luck.

[hottingers]

03:22 AM on 07/11/2011

He died doing what he loved.

[virtual0]

04:13 AM on 07/11/2011

I imagine he didn't love it so much that he would have done knowing he would die doing so.

[Bumble Bee]

05:02 AM on 07/11/2011

I wouldn't be so presumptuous. We are all going to die, and some people would actually prefer to go doing what they love, living the way they choose.

[Amy Graeber]

08:24 AM on 07/11/2011

My best friend is a skydiver. They know the risks, but choose to do it anyway because its a passion. If you talk to anyone who skydives for a living they'll tell you its worth the risk for them, and that at least if they do have an accident they'll die doing what they loved. Blue skies Ash

[chefmike]

04:21 AM on 07/11/2011

Being foolish.

[weinerdog]

12:57 AM on 07/11/2011

RIP Ash. I jumped there for my first and only time 5 years ago, and everyone was first class.

[Somali]

11:48 PM on 07/10/2011

Damn. Exactly a week ago today, I did my first skydive. It was awesome and the greatest feeling ever. I probably wouldn't have done so if I read this before I jumped.

[dream9]

12:01 AM on 07/11/2011

Sounds pretty cool to me too, but can you tell me why anyone would want to do it more than 15,000 times?

[WingsOfLiberty]

12:31 AM on 07/11/2011

sometimes satisfying desires can lead to death

[Cyke101]

12:33 AM on 07/11/2011

Because he was an instructor, meaning it was his job. And to get that job, you still have to jump a few thousand times just to get certified in certain states anyway. If you're an instructor, expect to jump 20 times a day for the sake of customers who are usually skydiving for the first time ever.