A routine skydiving jump over Tully Airport in Queensland, Australia turned into a heart-stopping airborne mishap when a participant’s reserve parachute deployed prematurely and became entangled with the small aircraft they had just exited.
The group of 17 skydivers was preparing for a 16-way formation jump at about 15,000 feet when, moments after the first jumper leaned out of the plane’s door, the handle of their reserve chute snagged on a wing flap, causing the chute to open and drag the skydiver backward into contact with the aircraft’s structure.
The tangled parachute left the skydiver suspended beneath the plane as it pitched and slowed dramatically, prompting a mayday call from the pilot. Using a hook knife carried for emergencies, the skydiver painstakingly cut through multiple lines to free themselves, then deployed their main parachute and descended safely to the ground with only minor injuries. Despite substantial damage to the plane’s tail and initial concerns about control, the pilot was able to make a controlled landing back at the airport, and investigators later highlighted the incident as a rare but valuable lesson in skydiving and aircraft safety.