• March 28, 2024

[VIDEO] 73 Year-Old Base Jumper Bursts Into Flames During Jump, And Dies

Authorities said a 73-year-old BASE jumper who died after leaping from an Idaho bridge had set his parachute on fire as part of a stunt.
A graphic video of the fatal jump, posted to YouTube on Monday, shows someone engulfed in flames and falling from the Perrine Bridge into the Snake River, 500 feet below, in Twin Falls, Idaho.
James E. Hickey had apparently planned to ditch the flaming parachute and deploy a second chute in the May 7 stunt.

But while one jumper glides safely away underneath a parachute, the other becomes engulfed in a fireball and falls quickly out of view.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzXvFD9kANY

The video pans back to the river just after the burning jumper hits the water. A boat arrives seconds later, and the video ends.

A coroner’s report said Hickey, of Claremont, California, died of blunt force trauma.

BASE jumping has come under increased scrutiny as at least five people have died in accidents since January, including two last week at Yosemite National Park.

The acronym ‘BASE’ stands for building, antenna, span and earth, the types of places from which jumpers leap.

It’s illegal in many places but allowed year-round without a permit at the Perrine Bridge in Twin Falls.

Hundreds of people jump from the bridge every year, and injuries are common.

Hickey is the second person to die this year after leaping from the Perrine Bridge, which spans the Snake River where it winds through a basalt-walled gorge carved by an ancient flood.

It is one of the relatively few man-made structures where the sport is legal.

On March 9, 32-year-old Vancouver, British Columbia, resident Bryan Turner died after jumping from the bridge because his parachute didn’t open properly.


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