Birdman dies on mountain
2010-04-15
Lise Beyers
AN adrenalin junky died on impact this week, when he crashed into a cliff while wingsuit-flying. This is the first known death of such a sportsman in South Africa. In wingsuit-flying, also known as base jumping, participants jump from high altitudes off buildings, cliffs and even out of aeroplanes, wearing a special flying jumpsuit with airfoils under the arms and between the legs which create a lift, making them very much look like birdmen. This jumpsuit allows wingsuit-flyers to first ‘fly’ through the air, before activating their parachute for landing. Before sunrise on Monday morning, three avid birdmen set off up the slope of the Banhoek Mountains near Pniel to reach the summit of Devil''s Tooth peak, from where they had planned to jump. At 09:30 Jeffrey Robson (31) took the first leap, but this proved to go horribly wrong. One of his companions said that conditions for base jumping were perfect on the day. “Usually we jump away from the rock-face and fly away from the mountain, but Jeffrey wanted to fly over a cliff. “He jumped and disappeared. Suddenly we heard a scream followed by a loud impact. Then there was silence.” The two remaining jumpers contacted members of mountain rescue who in turn summoned the Metro Rescue Services. An emergency helicopter was deployed and Robson’s body was lifted off the cliff, and airlifted to Pniel Primary School along with the two surviving jumpers. “If Jeffrey had been able to fly just two metres higher, he would have made it. He was just unlucky.” Robson, who was completing his doctorate in wingsuit-flying in Switzerland, had successfully jumped off the same peak barely two weeks ago.
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