How One Mistake Cost 16 Skydivers their Lives | Disaster in Ohio

Find out why eighteen skydivers jumped from a civilian airplane some 20,000 feet above Lake Erie instead of jumping over Ortner Airport, Ohio.

Get early access to future videos and support the channel here:

Check out the Official Shop with merchandise here:

Follow TheFlightChannel

Business Enquiries

This video has been recorded and edited in 4K resolution and 60FPS.

[OfficialSamuelC]

Imagine being those lucky 3 who were kicked off because it was too full...

[kay]

I cannot begin to imagine the absolute terror they must have felt once they got through the clouds and saw water. Poor souls RIP 🕊️🌹

[mrslcom]

The pilot was really negligent in this case. There were so many red flags that the jump should have been aborted.

[guinnog]

Sometimes it takes more courage to say "no" than to say "go".

[marklupus]

While I've read of this incident many years ago through my ventures in the sky diving community, I remain shocked that such a level of irresponsibility was present on the flight deck of that aircraft during this jump sequence. How in the name of God do you in good conscience allow anyone to depart your aircraft without visual reference to the ground? It simply numbs the mind.

[ComradDave]

My dad was 1 of the lucky sky divers that was picked up by the boat. Wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for the person in the pleasure boat.

[renferal]

That was really painful to watch. My heart goes out to their families.

[DaveDepilot-KFRG]

Jumping out of a working plane 20, 000 feet in the air.... I never understood that "hobby". And I'm a pilot.

[Just_Smile-nw]

I cannot imagine the absolute terror of the divers when they realize they’ve been dropped over water. This is heartbreaking 💔 🕊️ RIP fearless lads

[WillK]

Never understood the desire to jump out of a plane

Edit: Ironically, I’m now doing a skydive for charity

[wobmvsn]

These incidents are hard to digest at times. As a pilot I know the importance of doing everything by the book, rules and regulations are written in blood sadly. As a chinook pilot I am often reminded of the Mannheim incident. (Which involved jumpers and was an issue involving maintenance)

[vipahman]

I read about this incident just last week and TFC made a video about it. As with all accidents, this incident made skydiving the 'safe' sport it is today.

[WayneM]

It's what happens when the mission becomes more important than safety. Despite obvious errors by the pilot and ATC if the rule "you cannot jump if you can't see the ground" was followed, this would never have happened.

[keithrickson]

I used to drop skydivers through clouds all the time. But this was using GPS and ADS-B. The position of the aircraft was ALWAYS known. This accident occurred in a time when, GPS was not a thing, mode C transponders were not used and ATC used primary radar returns with vectored turns to identify aircraft. It's a pretty rudimentuary way of doing things butnit worked, until those times when it didn't.

[robertl]

I've heard of this one before, very sad indeed. I've never skydived, and never will as I have a massive fear of heights (more specifically of falling.) I can't imagine the terror of seeing the water below them, parachute gear is heavy, and not designed for landing in water. The guilt of the pilot must be immense.

[johnsmith]

There are multiple reasons why you shouldn't do a skydive through clouds, all of which are connected to the concept of 'you never know what is beneath you or where'. These skydivers unfortunately fell victim to one of those scenarios.

[cuchidesoto]

In Britain, several years ago, some parachutists jumped from a plane at an airshow, on a clear day, when there was a helicopter operating below them. Despite good visibility the outcome was both tragic and inevitable.

[rosebud]

Wow, this is nothing short of a horror movie. I’m 58 and never heard about this.

[edflowers]

In Army special forces we had to practice water jumps twice a year. The worst part was the canopy coming down on top of you and getting tangled up in the parachute cords. I hated it because I couldn't swim lol. We would wrap tape around our wrists and ankles to trap air pockets in our shirt sleeves and pant legs. It would help us float til we got picked up.

[cattinkerbell]

The consequences for the pilot and the controller would have been interesting...