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Ken Oka, 62, of Mira Loma was killed Saturday, May 25, 2013 in a skydiving accident in Lake Elsinore.
CONTRIBUTED IMAGE
Ken Oka, center, 62, of Mira Loma was killed Saturday, May 25, 2013 in a skydiving accident in Lake Elsinore.
The skydiver who plunged into a Lake Elsinore neighborhood Saturday, May 25, died at a hospital, the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department said.
He was identified as Kenneth Oka, 62, of the Mira Loma area of Jurupa Valley.
A group of skydivers was attempting a maneuver together when Oka became entangled in a parachute, the Sheriff’s Department said. Oka tried to free himself but was unable to. He fell into the backyard of a house in the 19000 block of Sweetwood Lane. That street is a few blocks from Skydive Elsinore, though it was not stated where the flight originated.
The Sheriff’s Department and Federal Aviation Administration are investigating.
Oka, in a 2004 Los Angeles Times story previewing the National Skydiving Championships in Perris, talked about a maneuver in which skydivers intentionally ensnare themselves in another’s parachute line.
“You literally wrap your foot in your teammate's parachute line and you try to fly this (formation) very uniformly together,” Oka said. The article described Oka as a member of the Lodi Crew who worked as a manufacturing engineer at the time.
“The thought of danger, I guess, plays in there someplace, but that is nowhere near the top,” Oka said in the article. “It's just fun with your friends up there, aligning the parachutes and being able to do this skill.”
Oka talked about a close call nine years previous in which he and a jumper had to ride down using only Oka's chute. “We didn't walk away, but we survived,” he told The Times.
Anyone with information on Saturday’s incident is asked to call the Sheriff's Department at 951-245-3300, or after hours at 951-776-1099.
The victim, identified by the Riverside County Sheriff-Coroner’s office as Ken Oka of Mira Loma, was killed in the crash about 3:05 p.m. Saturday.
Lake Elsinore police Sgt. David Cardoza reported in a department statement that officers were dispatched to the 19000 block of Sweetwood Lane following a report of a “downed skydiver.”
Upon arriving on scene, the parachutist was transported to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that a group of skydivers were attempting a multiple person maneuver when one of the skydivers became entangled in a parachute,” Cardoza said. “The parachutist attempted to free himself, but was unable to.”
A FAA representative is expected to conduct a separate investigation, the statement said.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to contact the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department at (951) 245-3300 or (951) 776-1099 just after hours.
Source: http://losangeles.cbslocal.com
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