Member Article

Video footage of miraculous survival

A New Zealand parachutist who survived a fall of 15,000 feet after his parachute failed to open has released footage of his near-death plummet filmed by a camera attached to his helmet. Michael Holmes, 25, made headlines around the world after surviving the fall during a routine jump over New Zealand’s Lake Taupo on December 13, 2006. A camera attached to his helmet captured his plummet, and there’s a copy of the video on Youtube.

At 4,000 feet Holmes discovered his main parachute would not open. The reserve also did not work properly. Holmes’ camera shows him checking his altitude metre as he tries to turn over onto his back to see what the problem is. In the final seconds of his fall, Holmes waves goodbye to his fellow jumper and yells “bye!”

A thorn bush broke Holmes’ fall. A second camera attached to his companion also captured the fall and what happened after Holmes landed. It shows Holmes plummeting towards the lake. When parachutist Jonathan King located Holmes, conscious and breathing, in the bush, he can be heard asking him: “You ok?”

Holmes answers, quite succintly, “No.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .