US Navy Skydiver killed at New York Fleetweek

A member of the US Navy Leap Frogs skydiving team was killed in New York during fleetweek celebrations after his parachute malfunctioned. The team was jumping into Liberty State Park in New Jersey, when the team member's chute failed to open. He cut away from the chute and impacted the water. It's not clear if he attempted to open his reserve. He was recovered from the water, and taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The Leap Frogs are made up of US Navy SEAL Team members, and was officially designated the Navy Parachute Team in 1969. There were two teams, one on the East Coast, who use the name Leap Frogs, and one on the West Coast, who use the name Chuting Stars. In the 1980s, the Chuting Stars were disbanded due to budget constraints, and the Leap Frogs became the official US Navy Parachute team.

A member of the US Navy “Leap Frogs” parachute team has died after an incident near New York City just after noon today. The team was performing as part of Fleet Week New York, and was jumping into Liberty State Park in Jersey City, NJ. During the jump, one team member’s parachute malfunctioned and he fell into the water after cutting away from it. It is unclear at what altitude this occurred and if he attempted to open his reserve canopy.

The jumper was immediately retrieved from the water and taken to a nearby hospital, but was pronounced dead at 1:10pm. The name of the jumper is being withheld so that next of kin can be notified, but we will update this post when it is released.

Our thoughts go out to all of the Leap Frogs as they mourn their teammate.

airshowstuff.com...

Freefall Parachuting, also referred to as Sky Diving or Sport Parachuting, is the art of exiting from an aircraft at a high altitude, stabilizing the body during a delayed fall, executing various maneuvers, safely opening the parachute at a given time over a given ground reference point and guiding the parachute so as to land on a specific target. With today’s technology, training and expertise, this art form has exceeded the wildest expectations of those UDT SEAL pioneers of the U.S. Navy Parachute Team, and no one does it better than today’s “Leap Frogs.”

Over sixty years ago, freefall parachuting started to come into its own and our Frogmen were into the middle of it. In 1956, after graduating with the first UDT Detachment to attend Basic Airborne Training, a quiet professional from UDT TWENTY-ONE, MN1 (later LCDR) Jim McGee, ordered a main and reserve parachute from an ad in Mechanics Illustrated and commenced making freefall jumps from his two seated Aeronca Chief. He and his UDT pilot buddy, LTJG Bruce Welch, alternated flying the plane and jumping from it using his newly acquired parachute assembly. When word got out in the Teams about this newfound joy, there was a run on NAS Salvage to pickup anything that resembled a parachute.

www.navysealmuseum.org... huting-exhibition-team

Any idea what rigs they're using? I remember years ago they were jumping Strong manufacturing rigs, a rig I always thought was garbage. Nothing like a vector, I'll never understand why they didn't choose vectors when budget wasn't a concern.

No good when someone bounces due to equipment malfunctions.

My uncle was the photographer for usaf's team (wings of blue) for many years. I'll have to see if he knows what happened.
Thanks for posting.

a reply to: Natas0114

I don't know what kind they're using now.

Video released on social media shows the chute coming down after he cut away. It landed between several skyscrapers in the area, in the parking lot of one of them. You can't see the diver in the video, so it appears the chute was blown over into the building area.

www.stripes.com...

a reply to: Zaphod58

Modern jumpers use an air foil chute. The cells fill with air allowing a wing shape. You steer with the cables.

Done tandem at 8,500 and 9,000 feet back when I was thin.

Sorry for the loss.

A boat captain that was watching said they saw three jumpers exit the helicopter, and land safely. About the time they were landing, they heard a splash, and realized there was a fourth jumper. They didn't see him exit the helicopter with the other three, and didn't know he was even there until they heard him hit the water.

Between 2011 and 2016, 11 Special Forces operators died in parachute training accidents. From 2004, 21 operators died. Of those, 16 occurred during free fall jumps.

Actually not all leap frogs are SEALS ...but there are SEALS on the team . I have heard the guy who passed away had just talked with his daughter before he jumped, and his wife was there watching....very sad . ....I have a few good friends on the team , and actually dated one of them before my current husband ....I and am waiting to hear who it was. I don't really want too know .

The Navy identified him as 27 year old Remington Peters from Colorado.

ThnK you, ....I got that phone call shortly after I made the previous post here....I had met him at the UDt reunion , but didn't really know him. ....these accidents always hit close to home. It's just so sad....I heard his sister was the trauma surgeon at the local hospital,and was the one who worked in him, .....I can't even imagine . .....