Charity jump ends fatally

A light aircraft on the way to a charity parachute jump plummeted into an army firing range, Dorset, killing two men. The Cessna 337 departing from Compton Hills encountered massive problems at 1,500ft in the air, just twelve minutes after take-off.

The pilot Tony Sharman, 40, of New Milton Hampshire was said to have made an emergency call back to his base at the ‘Dorset Parachute Club’ minutes before crash landing.

But tragically, both Tony and his twin brother and co-pilot Dennis went down with the plane.

It crashed only three miles north of their jump scene, in a strictly no fly zone, at Bovington Army Base.

Lieutenant Daltry immediately ceased all firing activities for the day, whilst a military search squad, made up of land rovers, helicopters and fire engines, was sent to scour the 12,000 acres of land for the remaining 4 passengers who were believed to have parachuted out of the plane.

Matt McGrath, 38 of Winchester, Debbie Smith, 37 and Kate Tong, 36 were all found successfully with only minor cuts and bruises, whilst Laura Cameron, 44, suffers a fractured leg.

The owner of Dorset Parachute Club known as ‘Big Mac’ said the parachutists are ‘very close friends and very capable’ with an accumulative of 3,500 jumps between them and is ‘devastated’ by the loss of two heroes.

McGrath believes the cause of the crash was due to an explosion of the back engine during their final briefing, triggering them to spiral towards the ground. He described it ‘like being inside a washing machine’. No black box was on board.

Tony Sharman was able to steady the plane for only a matter of moments, whilst brother Dennis forced them to jump, pulling their rip cords on exit at a mere 500ft. ‘The last thing I heard was Tony shouting at Dennis to jump, but he wouldn’t leave him.We owe our lives to them, they ignored their own existence for us’.

Paramedics and Fire and Rescue services have had to be flown in by helicopters to the scene of the crash, Gallows Hill, due to being in a particularly hazardous and remote area.