QLD: Police probe skydive company after jump death unnoticed

AAP General News (Australia)
08-02-1999
QLD: Police probe skydive company after jump death unnoticed

BRISBANE, Aug 2 AAP - An amateur parachutist's death went unnoticed for a week after he
leapt from a plane with 10 other skydivers.

Police say a skydiving company may not have checked its passenger numbers.

The man's body, wearing an unopened parachute, was found in a paddock north of Brisbane
yesterday, a week the jump on July 25.

Police are examining the operations of a south Queensland skydiving club to discover why
the 39-year-old man's death went unnoticed.

"It appears there was no head count," said crime coordinator Senior Sergeant Mick Niland.

The dead man, from Kingston, south of Brisbane, was one of 11 amateur parachutists flown to
a drop zone near Toogoolawah in the Brisbane Valley on July 25.

"It appears two lots of five jumped from the plane and the final person also jumped from
the plane, alone," said Snr Sgt Niland.

The man's body was found yesterday by a property owner in a paddock on Old Beppo Road.

A note was found in the man's belongings, but police would not reveal the details.

"The farmer hadn't checked the paddock for about a week," Toogoolawah police sergeant
Neville Allen-Inkins said.

Snr Sgt Niland said the matter would go to a coronial hearing.

AAP geb/rsm

KEYWORD: PARACHUTIST NIGHTLEAD

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