Man breaks leg in parachute accident

A MAN was taken to The Alfred hospital after a skydiving mishap at Tooradin Airfield on Saturday.
The 33-year-old novice from Gembrook successfully deployed his parachute at about 2.30pm but suffered a fractured leg and wrist after an awkward landing.
Detective Sergeant Larry Grimshaw from Cranbourne CIU said the man was coming towards the ground in Tooradin when he did a sharp turn and some lines got caught and wrapped around his hand.
The chute twisted and altered out of shape, taking the air out of the parachute and he came down very fast, landing heavily on his left side.
He was airlifted to The Alfred in a serious but stable condition.
A spokeswoman for Tooradin Airfields Commandos skydiving school said the accident was unfortunate.
“He was coming in fairly fast because there was no wind,” she said.
“He turned at the last minute and landed awkwardly.
“We’re highly trained, and in that situation you’ve got to make a split second decision.
“He should have tucked his knees under and slid in, but he did everything else perfectly.”
She said the accident was one of few to have taken place at the airfield.
“There’s about one incident where someone fractures something in every 500 to 1000 jumps.
“Overall injuries are very minimal it’s just that we are a high profile sport,” she said.
The spokeswoman said the man was well on the road to recovery.
“He’s at home and doing well,” she said.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is still investigating the incident.