Aussie Man Falls To Death From Parasail On Phuket Beach

[snoop1130]

Aussie Man Falls To Death From Parasail On Phuket Beach

By Chayanit Itthipongmaetee, Staff Reporter

 

A screenshot from video shows the moment an Australian man fell to his death from a parasail on Phuket’s Kata Beach.

 

PHUKET — An Australian man plunged to his death Wednesday afternoon after a parasailing accident on Kata Beach in front of more than a 100 onlookers.

 

Operators told police the 70-year-old man confused the ropes on his parasail and pulled on a hook which unstrapped his harness, causing him to fall to the sea below. He was taken to Patong hospital, where he later died.

 

Full Story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/crimecourtscalamity/calamity/2017/07/12/aussie-man-falls-death-parasail-phuket-beach/

 

-- © Copyright Khaosod English 2017-7-12

[canuckamuck]

They have a strap you can pull to drop to your death? What could go wrong?

Sympathies to the relatives, this shouldn't happen.

[LivinginKata]

Is there not any age.limit on these potential death traps. In one way I admire the adventure of the 70 year old. Is it wise ... no

[Moonmoon]

2 minutes ago, LivinginKata said:

Is there not any age.limit on these potential death traps. In one way I admire the adventure of the 70 year old. Is it wise ... no

The only limit is how much money you have.

[Dave67]

They need Safety Health In Thailand or SHIT as they are known as to look at it

[kkup]

If you watch the video it all happens very quickly, he gets attached to the ropes and he's in the air within 2 minutes. No safety instructions given to him by the looks. Looks more like the safety crew <deleted> up strapping him in.

Edited July 12, 2017 by metisdead
Profanity removed.

[snoop1130]

Australian man, 70, dies after Phuket parasail accident

Eakkapop Thongtub

 

Police question the parasail operators at Karon Police Station: Photo: Karon Police

 

PHUKET:-- A 70-year-old Australian man died today after falling into the sea during a parasail ride at Kata Beach.

 

The Narenthorn EMS Centre stationed at Vachira Phuket Hospital received a report from lifeguards stationed at Kata Beach at about midday today (July 12) stating that a foreigner had sustained injuries after falling from a parasail.

 

Rescue workers arrived at the scene to find a foreigner man lying on the beach. He was taken to Patong Hospital where a doctor and a medical team tried to assist him but he was later pronounced dead.

 

Full Story: http://www.thephuketnews.com/australian-man-70-dies-after-phuket-parasail-accident-62989.php#QBe9w6YlyWW7O2Ju.97

 

-- © Copyright Phuket News 2017-7-12

[mickyboy]

little did they know that the person filming it would not see them alive again talk about when your time is up even say another 20 yards out to sea he may have survived as water deeper we never know whats round the corner

 

[mickyboy]

and there be another one ready to be taken up in the air withinn the hour

[GaryB1263]

Damn it! R.I.P.

[4MyEgo]

Sadly he's not the 1st and won't be the last, 10 2 1 they don't have insurance and no charges will be laid because he pulled the hook which unstrapped him, well that's what we are told, and we can't get his side of the story because he has tragically passed.

 

How on earth I allowed my 12 year old daughter (now 20) to go on one of these rides back then, just sent shivers down my spine, thank God nothing went wrong.

 

 

Edited July 12, 2017 by 4MyEgo

[4MyEgo]

39 minutes ago, kkup said:

If you watch the video it all happens very quickly, he gets attached to the ropes and he's in the air within 2 minutes. No safety instructions given to him by the looks. Looks more like the safety crew f$%ked up strapping him in.

Yep, the only thing I heard is we run now, with his reply being, say again, we run, run then up they went and within 2 minutes like you said he had a hell of a straight fall into the shallow I would suggest.

[4MyEgo]

16 minutes ago, mickyboy said:

and there be another one ready to be taken up in the air withinn the hour

Too bad the focus has been on the beach chairs and umbrella's and not the jet skis and the parachutes, money talks I suppose

[boomerangutang]

                                  I owned and ran an Adventure Park in northern Thailand for 6 years.  I recently sold the property, and the new owners are just doing a restaurant there.  However, I also had 3 zip lines, nearly 200 meters each.   For awhile, we also had the biggest swing in Asia (60 meters high, 50 meters swing radius).  I put all the gear together myself.  Never had any injuries.  Commercial recreational stuff should not be taken lightly, particularly by those who are constructing/overseeing it.

 

                      I recall a bungee jumping tower rig, I think it was built in Pattaya, several few years ago.  Two farang (managers of the place) were testing it out, and it failed.  They fell to their death.  Another true story:  Chiang Mai, a Chinese woman was at the end of a long zip line between trees (my zip lines went from rock cliffs to meadow).  She thought she saw bees at the arrival platform, so she didn't disembark, and instead zipped back to middle of the cable stretch.   A man was zipping from the starting place, and plowed into her.  She fell and died.  It seems to me; even if a person bumped hard into her, she should have stayed in her harness while safely clipped to the cable. I don't know all the details.

[halloween]

I remember a video clip of a parasail, in Bali IIRC. The guy, quite fat, tripped as the boat took off and was dragged down the beach on his gut before the sail lifted him. He had lost a fair bit of skin, so the boat slowed and dipped him in the water, must have stung a bit because he was squealing like a stuck pig.

[Cashboy]

Why did they not tighten the lower straps?

Have a look at 1:30 min

[bkkbarnstormer]

Either way, the parasail company should be held responsible for this

- if he pulled the wrong cord by mistake why was it so accessible and why no training

- more likely perhaps, he was strapped in incorrectly

but probably we will never know and the parasail company will not pay a baht

 

TAT needs to invest in some more Spin Doctors or better -- needs some serious HSE training/licensing/inspecting

Edited July 12, 2017 by bkkbarnstormer

[Lingba]

and you're going to believe what the operator said?...He pulled on a strap...etc etc???

[Jeremy50]

The video on St....boy, almost unwatchable, especially as it is filmed by his wife or girlfriend.  How sad and tragic. RIP.

[Sheryl]

The worst part is seeing how happy he looks just before take off.

 

I don't think his age had the least to do with it (and he looks a pretty fit man). From the video on the Bangkok post website it is abundantly clear that something went wrong in strapping him in. The man who was fitting his harness gets pulled up into the air with him, apparently before he was through. He then sort of climbs up the ropes above the man and it looks like he briefly is hanging on to the man with his bare hands.

 

Looks to me like the take off was premature and he wasn't fully strapped in yet.

 

And from the description of how he died, sounds like he sustained a spinal cord or head injury, likely the former.

 

[schlog]

24 minutes ago, Sheryl said:

 From the video on the Bangkok post website it is abundantly clear that something went wrong in strapping him in. The man who was fitting his harness gets pulled up into the air with him, apparently before he was through. He then sort of climbs up the ropes above the man and it looks like he briefly is hanging on to the man with his bare hands.

 

 

 

Normal here on Phuket. Sometimes 3 guys on 1 parasail and min. 1 bare handed.

Edited July 12, 2017 by schlog

[roo860]

Why did they not tighten the lower straps?

Have a look at 1:30 min

 

That to me seems to be the excess strap after tightening. When the tension is taken up with the boat, the webbing that attaches the canopy to the body harness pulls the chest strap away from the body, making the holding clip easier to open, does that make sense?

Throw sheer panic into the scenario, can't see what the Thai guy does or what he tells him to do, if anything.

 

Sent from my SM-G920F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

 

 

[maximillian]

The Thai tried a stunt which he probably did many times before.

This time something went wrong.

 

 

Edited July 12, 2017 by maximillian

[Andrew Dwyer]

Saw this on the TV around 7 pm according to my gf the report was saying that the upper safety straps were not locked in properly (?).

Very sad for his family and friends.

RIP Sir.

[SantiSuk]

Require all operators to keep a log and disclose number of flights/number of deaths/number of serious injuries, sight of which should be signed off by the customer. That would probably arrive at an appropriate sizing for that particular industry in Thailand!

[MRDave]

We have a brain for a reason. I never put my life in anyones hands except when I fly, use public transport or undergo surgery. I also get my thrills from, sex, playing guitar, and online gaming only. I don't see the sense of rock climbing unless you're a commando about to take out an enemy pill box at the top of a cliff. Likewise I would never use a  parachute unless my plane was going down in flames.

[Rsquared]

A true and proper investigation would reveal whether the equipment was able to have a "quick release" lever, or if not, the passenger was not correctly harnessed, or the actual webbing of the harness gave way due to fatigue....apart from that, I can't think of any other possible cause. Not good.

 

[Sheryl]

1 hour ago, schlog said:

Normal here on Phuket. Sometimes 3 guys on 1 parasail and min. 1 bare handed.

 

Good grief.

 

When I did this (eons ago, when still young) only the paying customer went up.

 

I think even then, I would have balked at going up with someone balancing on the strings above me. Bizarre.,,and as we have just seen, of no help should anything go wrong.

 

 

[Jimi007]

8 minutes ago, MRDave said:

We have a brain for a reason. I never put my life in anyones hands except when I fly, use public transport or undergo surgery. I also get my thrills from, sex, playing guitar, and online gaming only. I don't see the sense of rock climbing unless you're a commando about to take out an enemy pill box at the top of a cliff. Likewise I would never use a  parachute unless my plane was going down in flames.

Is this just a recent avoidance of fun in life or have you always been a bit of a non risk taker? Although a parasail in Kata wouldn't be something I would be interested in, so we will agree about that... And yes having some control over what you're doing, if you know what you're doing, is a good thing as well. Cheers! Enjoy!

 

These boat operators are a danger. How many people have been hit by their boat propellers over the past several years? I know I've read about a few at this same beach! Jet ski crashes too. Ah let's go for a nice relaxing holiday at the beach and get killed by some local that thinks he's entitled to operate a business on a public beach. Oh well, preaching to the choir, nothing will change unless someone REALLY important gets killed, then it will forgotten about  in a year or two and then back to the same old same!

[Rsquared]

The Thai guy balancing in the rigging is to steer the parachute.....especially for landing, as for most passengers it is their first time and they don't have the awareness (due to the thrill of a whole new experience) to control the canopy for a landing.