This Mistake Cost 16 Skydivers Their Lives (Lake Erie Disaster)

The in-depth story of the Lake Erie Skydiving Disaster 1967.
Twenty skydivers eagerly board a World War Two Bomber plane for a complimentary high-altitude jump. Little do they know it would turn into the deadliest disaster in the history of recreational skydiving. As the plane ascends, they prepare for the exhilarating jump. But then, the weather worsens, and a thick layer of clouds engulfs the sky. Despite the golden rule of skydiving - "don't jump if you can't see the target" - the thrill-seekers leap into the abyss below, and sixteen fall to their deaths in the cold waters of Lake Erie in Ohio.

Subscribe for more fascinating disaster documentaries:

Tragic history playlist:

Footage used under fair-use. With additional footage from:

We reveal the world's darkest and greatest disasters all based on true stories.
This disaster documentary is inspired by the fantastic "Fascinating Horror".

[jamesgraham]

I have to feel some sympathy for the pilot in this tragedy. He was wrongly identified by ATC, guided to an incorrect position, the skydivers then broke their own cardinal rule by electing to jump without having visual contact with the ground. I'm not sure what the pilot could have done to alter the outcome.

[stevenwilgus]

As a sky diver myself, I found this to be such a tragedy. But like my pilot instructor (my dad actually) said: FAA regulations came from people dying...

[MarkAtkin]

The "unhelpful" guy in the fishing boat probably didn't even see the person in the water. Its notoriously difficult to spot somebody bobbing up and down with the waves.

[ronsedlak]

The jump was canceled earlier in the day for obvious reasons and should have remained canceled. The insistence to push on despite the danger created the problem. A very sad event.

[couch]

Lake erie is much more brutal than most people think. The water is almost always cold, and its dark, hard to see anything more than a few inches. The waves on low wind days can still mess you up. The constant winds though make sure there's always some. And when a storm hits, it can be brutal.

[directioner]

My father, Allan Homstead, was one of the two skydivers on the B25 who stayed on board and jumped from 30, 000 ft. I remember hearing talk of this tragedy even though I was only 6 years old at the time. I believe this happened right before my father left for a tour in Vietnam. He was an Air Force F4 Pilot. I wish I could remember the detail of what he said about this incident, and sadly he passed 3 years ago and I cannot ask him.

[jasonhaynes]

In defense of the fishing boat that allegedly drove right on by about 20 yards away, it's entirely possible they just didn't see them. I know it sounds hard to imagine, but in high waves, you would only be visible during the peak of the wave...When you're at the bottom of the wave, you're completely not visible. Now if the sun was in your eyes or you had glare on the water, it's possible the person had no idea. Also, waves (and fishing boats) are noisy. It's also possible he didn't hear them either.

[MarkMcatee]

The pilot did regain his certificate and was one of my instructors for IFR, Com, and CFI tickets. He had a tremendous flight record prior to this. IIRC...he was a CAT pilot for one of the govt. agencies. He did tell me that he had already determined his position using time/speed/etc and the early VOR out of Cleveland and ATC had been notified. Great pilot, humble man.

[johnnytyler]

The B-25 that was used in this accident didn't survive for very long either. It was destroyed just three years later in 1970 when it was sold to new owners and the pilot who was hired for the ferry flight crashed it while coming in for the landing.

[KravKernow]

I can easily believe the other vessel didn't see anyone. They train man-overboard drills with a football. Throw a dark coloured football into a four foot swell and it's easy to miss. And that's pretty much the same as trying to spot a human.

[Kat-trig]

I'm from this area and had never heard of this disaster before. I hope the families have received peace. The Great Lakes are much more dangerous than what most people think.

[w.rustylane]

I used to sky dive when I was in the USMC. I never jumped below 3, 500 feet. I ended up with 9 jumps before I got out of the Marine Corps. Was a great time in my life and I enjoyed jumping. After 13 were killed in the Locust Grove, GA, jump club I quit jumping. Cheers from eastern TN

[JOHNNY-zxlc]

Every now and then you come across a little gem of a channel on YouTube and find yourself binge watching all the videos. This is one of those channels.

[charlesirwin]

I’ve been a skydiver for 38+ years. In my early years I was on the Miller Skydiving team. One of our Demos was over Lake Erie for the Oktoberfest, the weather was overcast with clouds. We took the spot way out over the water in order to land on the dock where the October fest was being held.
Climbing to altitude I was remembering the incident with the skydivers that drowned. It kept us very alert to say the least. Thoughts and prayers went out to those that were a part of that tragedy.

[Selinasdevil]

That’s so tragic. I bet they were so cold and terrified. Poor fellows.
R.I.P. to all those lost.

[heks]

I work on ships, even from 20 yards a MOB you could be staring right at them and not even see them, it's unbelievable. Especially in cloudy weather

[chuckdavidmotorcyclemoment]

I was there when this tragedy occured. I was 11 years old and traveling by car with my family from Cleveland to Sandusky. Both my parents were pilots and we often stop at small airfields to check out the planes and see if anything interesting was going on. I can tell you that the pilot of the B-25 was NOT blissfully unaware of what had happened. As soon as he parked the plane - off away from the other planes on the ramp - we could tell that something was wrong; he was having a very animated discussion with his ground crew. I can't remember if we had seen the plane take off and knew there were skydivers aboard, or if we heard other people talking about the fact that there were. We watched what was going on for awhile, but left shortly after the B-25 landed. The weather was so bad we didn't think we would see any more action. The next day, the tragedy was, obviously, on the front page of the Sandusky Register. Even as a 11 year old, I was not surprise by what I read in the paper - the foreboding feeling my whole family had when leaving the airfield was clarified. Despite observing what I did and the awful feeling I had, I have made almost 1, 000 skydives and about 30 military jumps. And, yes, I have even made a water landing for licensing requirements, but under much more controlled circumstances. I can not imagine what it would have been like to break out of clouds on a cold and gloomy day and see nothing but treacherous water below. It was scary enough making a water landing wearing shorts, t-shirt, and flotation gear while having a safety boat just feet away from where I landed. The USPA made a wise decision in changing the rules for jumping close to water. It's a shame, as is often the case, it takes one tragedy to prevent another.

[brianmurphy]

I recall this tragedy. One of the survivors gave a interview where he said when he came out of the clouds, all he could see was black, where the ground was. He then realized he was above water. I was out at Cedar Point a few days after when they found one of the bodies nearby. Cedar Point had a ride called Space Spiral right next to the lake, that takes you high up above the lake. Looking down from up there all I could do was imagine the horror they expierienced when they realized they were over the lake!

[grapeshot]

Yeah that is a very good rule, don't jump if you can't see the target.

[jeff]

My dad used to jump with those guys but he stopped after getting married just weeks before. One of his jump buddies still comes by to reminisce. Thanks for posting this.