Aussie victim blamed for his death by Thai parasailing men

[Blackheart1916]

Three way carabiner, problem solved.

[Lokie]

I only parasailed once, years ago in Marmaris Turkey, you went on back of speed boat with around five other punters, the boat had a full sound system inbuilt in it, was pretty cool and a top end speed boat (think Miami Vice type mega thing) on back of speed boat was like a chrome railed launch/capture area, the person who was to go first was put in harness and two guys double checked each others work (they solely looked after the parasail part of operation the boat was driven by another dude who just concentrated on handling the boat) the canopy was then wound out on an electric winch, the person attached and then just fed out to parasail (SOLO) after about 10 mins they were retracted back in safely to the landing area at back of speedboat, and the next person then went, It was safe as houses and you not only parasailed but enjoyed a good half 45mins cruising around the bay of Marmaris with cool tunes playing, having a beer after you had done the parasail, watching your mates/peeps enjoying themselves safely...

 

Years later I came to Thailand and thought Wow I would never go near any of these scabby parasail outfits operating on any beaches, never seen a safe one yet. (no normal country would allow operators to run Parasailing as it is done here, with an operator riding on top, no harness, no life jacket no nothing!) Take it these harnesses are specced for two people and the canopies? Obviously they are also fully insured being a bonafide tourist business licenced by the beach authorities etc??

 

RIP to the poor guy

[lvr181]

19 hours ago, colinneil said:

The two Thai men are blaming the Aussie for the accident !!

Well of course they would, when have you ever heard of a Thai taking responsiblity for anything.

They do not understand the words accountability and responsibility (like many other 'higher' authorities)! 

Leadership starts from the top (or does it)? 

[Destiny1990]

2 hours ago, Chris Lawrence said:

The failsafe to any of these ventures, is once the client is strapped in, they stay strapped in until they land. I have done a bit of water skiing; my gear was always first rate. This is the stuff that protects u and others. Their gear looked tied.

 

Unfortunately stupidity protects no one.

 

RIP

stupidity from?

[stevenl]

1 hour ago, lvr181 said:

They do not understand the words accountability and responsibility (like many other 'higher' authorities)! 

Leadership starts from the top (or does it)? 

With legal proceedings on the way it would be very stupid to admit fault and 'take responsibility'.

[lvr181]

25 minutes ago, stevenl said:

With legal proceedings on the way it would be very stupid to admit fault and 'take responsibility'.

This incident is just another "brake (AKA brain) failure" that happened at sea!

 

You have spoken like a citizen of a first world litigious society and this country is far from being first world. I would doubt if there would be any extenuating circumstances by the customer leading to his untimely death. The 'operators' should just shut up and accept their fate.I can only hope that safety lessons are learned and put into practice (backed by laws) to avoid such incidents in the future. But, then again, perhaps I am being an optimist.

[stevenl]

20 minutes ago, lvr181 said:

This incident is just another "brake (AKA brain) failure" that happened at sea!

 

You have spoken like a citizen of a first world litigious society and this country is far from being first world. I would doubt if there would be any extenuating circumstances by the customer leading to his untimely death. The 'operators' should just shut up and accept their fate.I can only hope that safety lessons are learned and put into practice (backed by laws) to avoid such incidents in the future. But, then again, perhaps I am being an optimist.

You can doubt all you like, it would still be stupid for them to admit fault.

[captspectre]

14 hours ago, farcanell said:

Lmao.... 

 

as a proffessional skydiver with twenty years instruction experience at every level and discipline within the sport ( excepting chief instructor and freestyle skydiving), I hardly need to get of my butt and take another ride

 

as to equipment... I posted yesterday that I believed it was a failure in the harness due to wear/ age, and that the leg straps where probably at fault, and posted picture showing this... at that time, I had not seen the post incident picture, which I have now, and it seems that I may have been right in suggesting leg strap ( stitching) failure

 

as to holding the chute lines... Well....  the system is designed such that you dont hold the lines. If you can, then that's a completely flawed rig, which you deemed ok to ride in... which is why an expert should inspect the gear, not a punter with no knowledge

 

As to arguing... lol... if you don't want a response to a post.... don't post

 

final word, sky diving is in no way associated with taking a para sail ride. other than that you are probably right about the flawed gear. which is normal.as for me taking the ride, it was for the adventure of uncertainty.

 

[Maggusoil]

9 hours ago, kannot said:

they  never  are  with  the  gullible  and  stupid  who'll believe anything  without a shred of  evidence..............this  the  harm belief  without evidence can  cause

 

I suppose the point is, in terms of the psychology behind it, if the individuals believe in eternal life, and which requires constant death and rebirth to maintain the flow, then they may have a more reckless approach to survival of the current ego. Right? Well that's my twig on it. 

[b24u]

23 hours ago, BradWilkins said:

Hard to believe part of the harness doesnt go down around under the groin, and that the Thai tandem steerer seems to be unrestrained.

The harness did go around his legs/groin it was the first thing I looked for in the video

 

[farcanell]

4 hours ago, captspectre said:

final word, sky diving is in no way associated with taking a para sail ride. other than that you are probably right about the flawed gear. which is normal.as for me taking the ride, it was for the adventure of uncertainty.

 

Lmao... again.... you    are     a     funny     man.

 

parasailing is very much like skydiving and uses skydiving equipment, like that old harness... it IS a tandem parachute harness.... ergo.... "associated " with sky diving

 

the "parachute" is just like the big old round parachutes used by skydivers forty years ago, with some specific mods for parasailing ( gaps in rear of chute). I believe it is actually called an "ascending parachute"

 

the lines are made of "paracord"... see the "para" bit in there?....  Anyway... etc etc

 

And.... you can, if you wish, use a real life skydiving parachute to parasail, but obviously, you would need a clue ( another one... might be getting greedy there) about how to steer and control one of those ( yes... seen it done many times... done it too)

 

And.... parasailing was developed into a sport following it being effectively used by the military to train skydivers to fly and land a parachute, as it was cheaper and more efficient than jumping from a plane

 

And....parasailing has a side competition sport, whereby the parasailer releases the tow rope ( which can be attached to a boat or car or quad etc) and then steers his parasail into a landing area in a "landing accuracy competition" ( just like in skydiving world competitive events)

 

but... worryingly ( as I'd hate to read about a dead catspecter) you claim to be happy using what you know to be flawed gear as it adds uncertainty to the adventure... in future, please don't, because as evidenced this week, flawed equipment can kill you

 

now... by all means, liken it more to a derivative of mountain climbing or surfing or whatever turns you on, but do know that you last post need not be your last comment, because, as I said,  you    are     a     funny     man.... ???

[Yme]

13 hours ago, farcanell said:

Not the chest strap, unless the life vests three clips were first undone.... but.... the tension in the harness would likely make releasing the harness chest strap impossible, without having first released the tension in the system

 

so.... first undone three life vest clips.... pull the vest clear of the chest.... find the buckle and draw it sideways to allow the loose strap to slide thru ( it will not slide all the way thru as the end of the strap will not pass thru the buckle).... then undo the strap buckle..... somehow dodge past the tow rope anchor secured directly in front of the chest.... and fall

 

all this needs to be premeditated (and practiced) and will take far longer than the time frame in this incident

 

that said, if the harness chest strap was released ( or broke), the deceased would have had to fall forward, and turn upside down, to then fall free of the leg straps. This did not happen... he fell feet first

 

from looking at the harness, post incident, it appears as though the webbing on the leg straps may have torn, but its a poor photo to look at, even when blown up to the point of blurring.

 

the vid shows the deceased swinging to the right, suggesting that the left leg harness webbing may have failed, followed by overloading the right side leg strap, causing that to fail, allowing the deceased to fall feet first out of the harness (this is guesswork)

 

this is why the gear needs to be examined by an expert.... the Phuket police don't qualify in this respect... to determine the most likely scenario leading to this fatality.... the harness will tell us what happened if examined by someone with a clue

 

Thank you. the site I clipped was the first place I saw the official story questioned and my initial thoughts even then was that it still didn't account for the thigh straps. I used to do a bit of climbing and abseiling, but our harnesses were only waist styles. Still can really imagine both failing at the same time. 

 

Thank you for the detailed reply.   I think it's clearly established it is not Mr Hussey's fault. 

 

[Mianoinadme]

2 hours ago, b24u said:

The harness did go around his legs/groin it was the first thing I looked for in the video

 

 

It's clearly the Thais' fault. And the gear's way too old that I'd use it. 

 

  It seems that the boat then changed direction and the Thai guy had a hard time to stay up there. Then the free fall. RIP>

 

   

 

[Yme]

1 minute ago, Mianoinadme said:

 

It's clearly the Thais' fault. And the gear's way too old that I'd use it. 

 

   

 

The rig looks like it might be WWII surplus, but the parasail looks reasonably new. 

[happyas]

The post on this other thread by Lamar, is as good an explanation as is possible, given the limited amount of info available thus far..{IMO}

[dick dasterdly]

5 hours ago, stevenl said:

With legal proceedings on the way it would be very stupid to admit fault and 'take responsibility'.

Probably better not to try to put the blame on the victim though.....

[kangaloowest]

On 7/14/2017 at 1:24 PM, happyas said:

 I don't think it would  be probable or likely for it too have been the Aussies fault, but it is quite possible.

As is posted, these particular guys have 10 years operating previously without an accident.

Not saying it was or was not, but wait and see what comes up, instead of constantly Thai bashing and conspiracy theories that abound .

 

There should be no way known that a person can open the locking device of such safety equipment without using two separate movements that must be carried out in sequence, and in some cases three movements.

 

Once the load is applied to the harness, as would be when being launched upwards by a parasail,  then it is almost impossible to "unlock" the harness restraints, even if you wanted to.

 

That is the way they are purposely designed,  is to protect the person from falling free from the harness once the harness has come under load. eg: person body weight + being dragged/towed through the air at speed.

 

In saying that, I would hazard a guess that the said safety gear was most likely a pile of <deleted>.

 

I would very much like to know if the deceased actually had the harness on when pulled from the water, and in what condition it was in,  furthermore, I do not believe it would take much, after an inspection of the safety equipment to ascertain the fault of equipment causing death.

 

Watch the video again, and you will see that when the parasail is being towed just above and out over the water, a Thai guy in a long grey sleeved top, runs towards the water with his arms raised, yelling something out, as if he saw something was wrong and was trying to get their attention.

 

Maybe the gents, here on this forum with a Thai wife or girlfriend can be shown the video, to find out what the Thai guy was yelling about ???.

 

 

 

[Mad mick]

4 minutes ago, kangaloowest said:

 

There should be no way known that a person can open the locking device of such safety equipment without using two separate movements that must be carried out in sequence, and in some cases three movements.

 

Once the load is applied to the harness, as would be when being launched upwards by a parasail,  then it is almost impossible to "unlock" the harness restraints, even if you wanted to.

 

That is the way they are purposely designed,  is to protect the person from falling free from the harness once the harness has come under load. eg: person body weight + being dragged/towed through the air at speed.

 

In saying that, I would hazard a guess that the said safety gear was most likely a pile of <deleted>.

 

I would very much like to know if the deceased actually had the harness on when pulled from the water, and in what condition it was in,  furthermore, I do not believe it would take much, after an inspection of the safety equipment to ascertain the fault of equipment causing death.

 

Watch the video again, and you will see that when the parasail is being towed just above and out over the water, a Thai guy in a long grey sleeved top, runs towards the water with his arms raised, yelling something out, as if he saw something was wrong and was trying to get their attention.

 

Maybe the gents, here on this forum with a Thai wife or girlfriend can be shown the video, to find out what the Thai guy was yelling about ???.

 

 

 

Of course it was"  he went parasailing in thailand " poor fella,  r u serious unregulated no serious concerns for health and safety ,  money  money money nothing else matters.  

[Mad mick]

8 minutes ago, kangaloowest said:

 

There should be no way known that a person can open the locking device of such safety equipment without using two separate movements that must be carried out in sequence, and in some cases three movements.

 

Once the load is applied to the harness, as would be when being launched upwards by a parasail,  then it is almost impossible to "unlock" the harness restraints, even if you wanted to.

 

That is the way they are purposely designed,  is to protect the person from falling free from the harness once the harness has come under load. eg: person body weight + being dragged/towed through the air at speed.

 

In saying that, I would hazard a guess that the said safety gear was most likely a pile of <deleted>.

 

I would very much like to know if the deceased actually had the harness on when pulled from the water, and in what condition it was in,  furthermore, I do not believe it would take much, after an inspection of the safety equipment to ascertain the fault of equipment causing death.

 

Watch the video again, and you will see that when the parasail is being towed just above and out over the water, a Thai guy in a long grey sleeved top, runs towards the water with his arms raised, yelling something out, as if he saw something was wrong and was trying to get their attention.

 

Maybe the gents, here on this forum with a Thai wife or girlfriend can be shown the video, to find out what the Thai guy was yelling about ???.

 

 

 

Let go ?

[captspectre]

5 hours ago, farcanell said:

Lmao... again.... you    are     a     funny     man.

 

parasailing is very much like skydiving and uses skydiving equipment, like that old harness... it IS a tandem parachute harness.... ergo.... "associated " with sky diving

 

the "parachute" is just like the big old round parachutes used by skydivers forty years ago, with some specific mods for parasailing ( gaps in rear of chute). I believe it is actually called an "ascending parachute"

 

the lines are made of "paracord"... see the "para" bit in there?....  Anyway... etc etc

 

And.... you can, if you wish, use a real life skydiving parachute to parasail, but obviously, you would need a clue ( another one... might be getting greedy there) about how to steer and control one of those ( yes... seen it done many times... done it too)

 

And.... parasailing was developed into a sport following it being effectively used by the military to train skydivers to fly and land a parachute, as it was cheaper and more efficient than jumping from a plane

 

And....parasailing has a side competition sport, whereby the parasailer releases the tow rope ( which can be attached to a boat or car or quad etc) and then steers his parasail into a landing area in a "landing accuracy competition" ( just like in skydiving world competitive events)

 

but... worryingly ( as I'd hate to read about a dead catspecter) you claim to be happy using what you know to be flawed gear as it adds uncertainty to the adventure... in future, please don't, because as evidenced this week, flawed equipment can kill you

 

now... by all means, liken it more to a derivative of mountain climbing or surfing or whatever turns you on, but do know that you last post need not be your last comment, because, as I said,  you    are     a     funny     man.... ???

we WERE talking about the raggedy ass low quality parasails in thailand and specifically Pattaya. give it a break, and you do not even have the slightest clue as to what i do and do not know about "sky" diving. looks ;like you are trolling.

[kangaloowest]

3 hours ago, Mad mick said:

Let go ?

 

"Let Go"  ???.

What are you going on about Mick ??

[lvr181]

10 hours ago, stevenl said:

You can doubt all you like, it would still be stupid for them to admit fault.

They are STUPID -  why not just admit it!

[farcanell]

51 minutes ago, captspectre said:

we WERE talking about the raggedy ass low quality parasails in thailand and specifically Pattaya. give it a break, and you do not even have the slightest clue as to what i do and do not know about "sky" diving. looks ;like you are trolling.

Still amusing me dude.... ?... love your work

 

The incident happened in Phuket, not Pattaya.... but I'm sure that was just another mistake on your part... and what we are discussing is your unqualified comments, such as in your last post at 188..

 

i do have a very good clue ( from your comments to date) about what you do and do not know about "sky" diving 

 

and one of us is trolling.... is it ok for me to disagree about whom that is?

 

if you have something either qualified or sensible to say, I'm all ears ?

[hottrader77]

On 7/14/2017 at 10:24 AM, happyas said:

 I don't think it would  be probable or likely for it too have been the Aussies fault, but it is quite possible.

As is posted, these particular guys have 10 years operating previously without an accident.

Not saying it was or was not, but wait and see what comes up, instead of constantly Thai bashing and conspiracy theories that abound .

i can understand the thai guys point of view that the aussie dead guy did pull and release his own parachute instead of looking before pulling it so from that point of view it was his fault but i think they should have highlighted that to him , pity he was not further out as he may have survived but itd dangerous doing it from the beach it should be done on a platform out in the sea . AS its not a good idea to release your parachute in shallow water as gravity takes NO prisioners 

 

[Bucko]

22 hours ago, Lokie said:

I only parasailed once, years ago in Marmaris Turkey, you went on back of speed boat with around five other punters, the boat had a full sound system inbuilt in it, was pretty cool and a top end speed boat (think Miami Vice type mega thing) on back of speed boat was like a chrome railed launch/capture area, the person who was to go first was put in harness and two guys double checked each others work (they solely looked after the parasail part of operation the boat was driven by another dude who just concentrated on handling the boat) the canopy was then wound out on an electric winch, the person attached and then just fed out to parasail (SOLO) after about 10 mins they were retracted back in safely to the landing area at back of speedboat, and the next person then went, It was safe as houses and you not only parasailed but enjoyed a good half 45mins cruising around the bay of Marmaris with cool tunes playing, having a beer after you had done the parasail, watching your mates/peeps enjoying themselves safely...

 

Years later I came to Thailand and thought Wow I would never go near any of these scabby parasail outfits operating on any beaches, never seen a safe one yet. (no normal country would allow operators to run Parasailing as it is done here, with an operator riding on top, no harness, no life jacket no nothing!) Take it these harnesses are specced for two people and the canopies? Obviously they are also fully insured being a bonafide tourist business licenced by the beach authorities etc??

 

RIP to the poor guy

They have this system  at Lamai Beach Koh Samui Lokie-- watched it every day for  couple of weeks---seem to work great --cant say about the safety harness tho-- salt water does take its toll -- i'e corrosion and deterioration -- anyone know if there are rules  about changing the gear - i.e  so many flights - or months ?  in other countries--along with official safety checks  -- I would think there must be .

 

Tragic --RIP Aussie

[diehard60]

On 7/14/2017 at 10:24 AM, happyas said:

 I don't think it would  be probable or likely for it too have been the Aussies fault, but it is quite possible.

As is posted, these particular guys have 10 years operating previously without an accident.

Not saying it was or was not, but wait and see what comes up, instead of constantly Thai bashing and conspiracy theories that abound .

10 years without an accident. maybe 10 years without a REPORTED accident.

[XBroker]

That flotation vest may be useful at some points on the way up and down, but not from that height apparently.

[stevenl]

13 hours ago, lvr181 said:

They are STUPID -  why not just admit it!

Why would I have to admit anything, I got no beef at all in this. And admit'??

 

And are they stupid, looks to me more your western superiority complex speaking.

[idannyb]

On 7/13/2017 at 8:37 PM, BradWilkins said:

Hard to believe part of the harness doesnt go down around under the groin, and that the Thai tandem steerer seems to be unrestrained.

After watching the video a few times, it's clear that there was a 'lower safety belt' that was never buckled into place by the Thai man adjusting the harness/equipment. In fact, at 47 seconds into the Youtube video, you can see the Thai man folding the lower harness strap away in the back (NOT how it should be done) ... This lower strap should go snugly around the lower waist area to prevent someone from 'slipping out' by force of gravity (i.e. exactly the type of terrible tragedy that was about to happen).

[nasa123]

NO ACCIDENT ??

I live here for about 10 years in Kata and i se accident every week, the hit people when they landing on the Kata Beatch every day + last year the hit a man whit the propel maybe he lose the legg i don`t now. And they drive over 1 lady on the sand whit the car they take jet - ski on the sand, so accident you have many many every week, I want people to start take movie and put on You Tube from Phuket.