WESTLOCK — The skydiving accident that resulted in the death of a 36-year old man Aug. 28 at the Westlock Municipal Airport is the third fatality there in the last five years.
That Friday afternoon, at around 2 pm, emergency responders were called in about a man who had landed into a pond while skydiving. EMS, RCMP and Westlock County firefighters were on scene for close to two hours that day — police officers remained there longer to investigate the accident.
Westlock County manager of protective services confirmed over the phone that STARS had been called in then cancelled, and that firefighters typically attend to assist EMS and prepare a landing pad for the STARS helicopter. They were the first to clear the scene that afternoon.
The Ontario man was confirmed deceased on scene, but Westlock RCMP detachment Staff Sgt. Al Baird couldn’t offer any more details that day. An RCMP press release later in the evening didn’t clear anything up either, apart from confirming there was no foul play involved.
Edmonton Skydive, which operates out of the Westlock airport, didn’t respond to a request for comment from the News.
Since the accident, a memorial Facebook page for Travis McBride, the skydive victim, has been set up by friends. They remember McBride as a man who loved animals, and it appears too that he was an experienced skydiver.
“Forever and always my little brother. I love you,” wrote Al Christou on Facebook. According to his Facebook and LinkedIn pages, he is the president and CEO of Edmonton Skydive. The post appeared on ‘Alberta Skydive,’ a Facebook group of nearly 900 members, “intended for fun jumpers and experienced skydivers.”
In 2015, a 60-year old man died during the Canadian National Skydiving Championship hosted at the Westlock airport during the August long weekend. He was performing a jump, police said, and the parachute did deploy. Foul play was ruled out, and the body was examined by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner.
Another accident, on Aug. 13, 2016, led to the death of a 52-year old from Edmonton. He was attempting a “high performance technique,” police said, and couldn’t land properly. At the time, Edmonton Skydive was hosting the 2016 Alberta Canopy Piloting Circuit.
No more details are available about what caused any of these three accidents.
According to Canadian Sport Parachuting Association, the sport’s governing body, skydiving accidents are very rare, and fatalities are the most uncommon. In the majority of cases, it’s experienced skydivers that are involved.
In the U.S., the CSPA’s equivalent, United States Parachute Association, recorded 13 fatalities in 2018 (the most recent numbers), or 0.0004 per cent of all jumps.
