Summary
At approximately 1145 hours CST on 7 October, 1973 a parachutist was fatally injured by
impact with the ground following a free-fall descent at Batchelor Airfield, Northern Territory.
Examination of the equipment after the accident revealed that the main parachute ripcord
handle was out of its stowage, but the release pins had not been extracted from the cones. Tests indicated
that a pull on the ripcord of at least 12.7 kilogrammes would have been necessary to open the parachute
pack. There was no evidence to show that any attempt had been made to deploy the reserve parachute
which was serviceable in all respects.
