NTSB Factual Report

On October 24, 2004, about 1440 central daylight time, a Cessna P206B, N8619Z, operated by Mid-America Sport Parachute Club Inc., as a skydive airplane, was destroyed on impact with terrain following an entanglement of a parachute around the front of the right main landing gear strut. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The 14 CFR Part 91 skydive flight was not operating on a flight plan. The pilot received minor injuries, four parachutists were uninjured, and one parachutist was fatally injured. The local flight originated from Taylorville Municipal Airport, Taylorville, Illinois, about 1420.

The pilot stated that at 10,500 feet mean sea level, the five parachutists proceeded to exit. Parachutist number one opened the door and positioned himself onto the strut. Parachutist number two was just stepping onto the exit platform on the right hand landing gear when his main parachute "came free" from the container and dropped outside the airplane in front of the landing gear strut. The instant parachute inflation jerked parachutist number two down. Parachutist number one released from the airplane. The airplane pitched nose down due to drag and the flight control inputs were not responsive due to the parachute blocking the elevator and rudder airflow and drag at the right gear line entanglement point. The airplane continued in nose down pitch attitude [and] immediately [rolled] 180 degrees to inverted and entered a flat inverted spin. The ensuing centrifugal force was estimated by the pilot to be 3 g's towards the outside of the spin causing the parachutists to be forced to the top left of airplane, away from the right exit door. The cutaway attempts by parachutist number three for parachutist number two's entanglement were unsuccessful due to g force and rotational spin knocking the remaining parachutists about the cabin. The pilot continued the recovery procedures to about 6,000 feet but was unsuccessful.

The pilot said that he has been a pilot at the Mid-America Sport Parachute Club since approximately 1991 and since then there have been no occurrences of premature parachute deployment. He said that the accident parachutist would pack his own main parachute and none of the other club members or certified riggers "touched" parachutist number two's main parachute. The pilot stated that he would visually check the backs of parachutists as they exited the airplane, which would be about 2-3 feet from him. Parachutist number two exited the airplane and the back of the parachute fell in front of the landing gear strut and got caught in the slipstream. The pilot was wearing a parachute during the accident flight.

Parachutist number two's last logbook entry was dated September 26, as jump number 79, from a Cessna 185, at an exit altitude of 10,500 feet, and a total time to date of 58:27.

Examination of the wreckage by the Federal Aviation Administration revealed that the airplane was inverted in an agricultural field. The Harness/Container was a "Javelin" system manufactured by Sun Path Products, Inc, in November 1990, serial number 1347. The cut away handle had not been pulled until first responders arrived on-scene to the accident.

NTSB Probable Cause

Aircraft control not possible by the pilot following a premature deployment of a parachute as a parachutist exited the jump airplane during cruise flight. The inverted spin encountered by the pilot was an additional cause.