A French pilot received a one-year suspended sentence and was banned from flying for a year after being found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the decapitation death of a wingsuit flyer in 2018.
French media identified the pilot as 64-year-old Alain C. During the freak accident, the wing hit Nicolas Galy, 40, seconds after Galy jumped from the plane at an altitude of roughly 13,000 feet, Le Parisian reported. According to the French newspaper, no communications on the flight paths of the aircraft or the jumpers were discussed between the pilot and Galy.
Alain called the situation a “tragedy” but noted that Galy “did not follow the expected course and should never have been on that course.”
In court proceedings, it was disclosed Alain has been flying with an invalid license due to a medical condition. The outlet reported that the skydiving school the pilot worked for, Midi-Pyrénées Skydiving School Association, was fined 20,000 euros but that half that amount was suspended. Court was told the company has since updated its procedures and briefings are now mandatory.
I like that. Just jump out. No communication between the pilot and the jumper. What could go wrong?
Now the school has to update their procedures and briefings. How about starting with your employees? I couldn’t rent an aircraft before showing them all my records. And from time to time ask me to confirm that they’re still valid
As both a pilot and a wingsuit skydiver with over 1,000 wingsuit jumps I am surprised that they were both at the same altitude 40 seconds after the exit. Wingsuiters generally exit last and the plane will then dive away to pick up its next load. After 40 seconds the plane will be far below the wingsuiter.
Also, my experience is that when pilots know that one or more wingsuiters are on the load they always ensure that they know the heading the wingsuiters intend to take. Most US dropzones have published lanes for wingsuit jumps.
I think the jumper’s age was 40. And it happened “seconds” after exiting the aircraft. I had to read it a couple of times myself.
Assuming the punctuation is correct, “40” is the age of the wingsuit jumper, not the interval between jumping and the accident.
As others pointed out, the comma sets apart the ‘seconds’. The linked article makes it a bit clearer:
“The pilot, 64, hit Nicolas Galy, 40, with the plane’s left wing just seconds after Galey jumped out of the aircraft …”
When I read “decapitaction” I assumed it was the prop. But the wing… geez.