Friday, October 21, 2011

Medical student dies in skydiving accident. Ormoc City, Philippines

ORMOC CITY, Leyte—A skydiving student was killed after his parachute malfunctioned during a 3,500-foot jump over Barangay Airport here Thursday afternoon, authorities said.

The body of Loui Raymond Pestaño, 24, was found in a rice paddy 150 meters away from the airport runway. The force of the impact caused a two-foot deep imprint on the ground.

Pestaño, a resident of Cebu City, was a medical student of the University of Sto. Tomas in Manila.

He went to Ormoc to learn how to skydive from members of the Cebu Parachute Club who were scheduled to do a skydiving exhibition in the morning of October 20 as part of the city’s 64th Charter Day celebration.

He and Engr. Gil Gantuangco, an Ormoc Builders Association member, were supposed to do a beginner’s jump at an altitude of 3,500 feet at around 2:20 p.m. on Thursday.

But Gantuangco got cold feet after the briefing. Only Pestaño pushed through and jumped off from a Cessna plane with his instructor, identified only as Gary.

Witnesses said they saw Pestaño whirl in the air after the jump.

But his main parachute didn’t open when he pulled it, said Barangay Punta chairman Glenn Alvin.

He said the student might to have lost consciousness while he was spinning because Pestaño was not able to pull his reserve chute.

Pestaño fell into the middle of a rice field.

Resident Dennis Omega said that when the body fell to the ground, he heard a “bomb-like explosion.”

Members of the Ormoc Rescue team brought him to Ormoc Sugarcane Planter’s Association—Farmer’s Medical Center, where physicians declared him dead.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net
CEBU CITY -- A Cebuano medical student of the University of Sto. Tomas in Manila died in Ormoc City Thursday afternoon after a skydiving accident.

The 24-year-old Loui Raymund Pestaño, son of a former director of the Philippine National Police Finance Service and former provincial director of Capiz Police Provincial Office, was with members of the Cebu Parachute Club when the accident happened around 2 p.m.

The Cebu skydivers were invited to perform in a skydiving exhibition during the 64th Charter Day celebration of Ormoc City.

A ship brought the young man’s remains to Cebu City Friday afternoon.

Witnesses said the student’s parachute did not open after he jumped from a Cessna plane with his instructor identified only as Gary. He landed on a rice paddy meters away from the airport runway, and was rushed to the Ormoc Sugarcane Planters Association-Farmers Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Ormoc City Police Office director Nilo Donaire said Pestaño was with the group of skydivers who were training at the Ormoc airport. He was with another student for their beginner's jump. The other student, however, did not push through with the jump after the briefing.

Donaire said members of the Cebu Parachute Club who performed the skydiving exhibition all landed safely.

Pestaño’s father, Orlando, witnessed the accident.

According to Donaire, the older Pestaño said he will have the parachute malfunction investigated.

The father declined to answer questions upon arrival in Cebu Friday afternoon.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph

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