Skydiver plunged to his death in display debut

A skydiver who was months away from marrying his fiancée plunged to his death in front of hundreds of horrified spectators on his first ever display dive.

"Charming" Ryan Brown, 31, loved parachuting and had more than 300 jumps under his belt but made a "tragic" error of judgement during a charity fun day on August 22.

Four colleagues landed safely on a cricket pitch from the 4,000 ft leap but he drifted past the landing area, then made a sudden turn as he approached the ground before slamming into it.

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One witness described him as "looking like Superman" as he flew horizontally just feet from the ground at about 60mph – far quicker than he should have been travelling.

He hit the ground and, despite the efforts of paramedics and a GP friend who had completed the jump, died later in hospital.

Mr Brown, from Goole, had met fiance Bethyny, who lives in Seattle, online and the pair had planned to marry next summer.

The inquest in Hull heard how the weather was fine and there were no problems with his equipment.

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His father David choked back tears as he spoke of his security camera operator son's passion for skydiving and how "happy and full of life" he was.

The parachute display was to be the highlight of the Street Music Festival in Bridlington.

The team's chief instructor Ray Armstrong said he had "no concerns" over Mr Brown, who had completed five practice jumps over the weekend, taking part.

Both he and a colleague landed safely and then watched on in horror as Mr Brown came in to land far too fast, which they were "very surprised" to see.

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"He was too high when he came in to land, then made a radical 270 degree left turn which led to him accelerating further," he said.

"I was aware something was going to go wrong as he was going too quickly. His parachute was working correctly but he was operating it incorrectly.

"Despite him trying to brake there was not enough time and he made a heavy impact with the ground. I asked him if he was all right and I believe he said 'No I'm not'. It was clear he was seriously injured."

Fellow skydiver Simon Rehill had landed after Mr Armstrong. He said: "I knew he wouldn't have time to recover. He seemed to make the wrong decision at the wrong time.

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"If he had made a decision five seconds earlier he would have been OK. He was a competent skydiver and I was very surprised to see this."

Mr Brown was airlifted to Scarborough Hospital but suffered multiple internal and external injuries. He was pronounced dead less than two hours after the accident.

Tony Butler, technical officer for the British Parachute Association (BPA), said the organisation could not reach a conclusion as to why he would have performed such a radical turn.

Coroner Geoffrey Saul recorded a verdict of accidental death.

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The family were too upset to speak after the inquest, but Detective Inspector Alan Dorring from Humberside Police said: "Ryan died doing something he loved and was very passionate about. It was a tragic accident, a tragic mistake by Ryan. The family deeply regret his loss and he is going to be very sorely missed."

A previous tribute from his mum Jenny said her son "had a natural charm".

She added: "Ryan had such a funny sense of humour and always made me laugh when I needed a lift.

"I am immensely proud of everything he achieved in his life."

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