Turner jumped in tandem with an instructor. The parachute did not open, and the two hit the ground with a fatal impact. Deputies found the bodies in a vineyard just south of the center’s landing zone. It was later revealed by the Sacramento Bee that the instructor reportedly did not have a proper license.
This week Turner's family was awarded a $40 million dollar judgment against the owner of the skydiving school, Bill Dause, a man who claims to be a skydiving legend with over 50 years experience.
The 2016 tragedy forms part of a long troubled history of fatalities at the Lodi Parachute Center, which has seen 21 deaths over the years, say lawyers.
“Before he got on the plane, he knelt down and prayed, made his peace with God, and then turned around and gave me a great big, huge hug,” Turner's mom Francine Salazar told the Merced Sun Star in 2016. “He said, ‘I love you, Mom,’ and then he got on the plane.”
Salazar also said that she was worried before the jump because an instructor allegedly told the jumpers, gathered for the birthday celebration, they did not need to finish watching the safety video shown beforehand.
Dause told the Sun Star at the time: “I know she’s grasping for reasons, and we’re just as upset about it as everybody is.”
Paul Van Der Walde, an attorney representing the family of Tyler Turner at this week's hearing, said that since 1981 at least 21 people have died at the skydiving center near Lodi.
In 2019 the Washington Post reported that a 28-year-old woman died during a jump at the same school after a gust of wind sent her careening toward the flow of traffic on Highway 99. She slammed into a big rig and was found dead on the shoulder of the highway.
In 2006, an experienced jumper unsuccessfully sued the parachute center after his leap from a twin-engine plane at 3,000 feet left him with spinal cord injuries; he struck the plane’s tail before crash-landing in a vineyard near Highway 99.
Another jumper was left dead in a nearby vineyard after a failed jump at the center in 2012.
In 2014 a professional skier from Squaw Valley, Timothy "Timy" Dutton, 27, suffered the same fate at Lodi Parachute Center.
The list goes on.
The multi-million-dollar penalty handed down on Monday specifically targets Dause, whose company is also known as Skydivers Guild Inc.
San Joaquin County Superior Court Judge Barbara Kronlund wrote on Monday, “Following court trial Bill Dause is found to be the alter ego of Skydivers Guild Inc. and is responsible for their entire judgment of $40,030,000."
“We hare hoping this will allows us to get this placed closed or be sold to a responsible owner who can operate it safely,” Van Der Walde told the Fresno Bee.
The Lodi Parachute Center did not immediately return a request to SFGATE for comment.
So sad.
ReplyDeleteno reserve?
ReplyDeleteI'm sure that verdict will be appealed. I did tandem and solo jumps for years...the waivers I had to sign were extensive and detailed. Amazing how many ways there are to describe death from blunt force injury...I highly doubt that award will stand
ReplyDeleteSkydive waivers just need to adopt the Sky Combat Ace release form, which goes beyond simple customer assumption of risk. The form has the customer agree specifically to indemnify the business for all claims and costs, including from any lawsuit, negligent act, or omission.
DeleteBy indemnifying the business as stated on the form, any award that could be "won" in a lawsuit has to be paid for by the injured party or their estate. Zero exposure for the business.
People that sign release forms without reading, beware! You can't really waive negligence, but you can foolishly agree to indemnify the business against the negligence judgement.
https://data.ntsb.gov/Docket/Document/docBLOB?ID=40484104&FileExtension=.PDF&FileName=SCA%20Participant%20Agreement%20Release%20and%20Assumption%20of%20Risk%20Form-Master.PDF