NSW Police say that a parachutist was rescued from trees at Tyagarah yesterday.
On Saturday a 22-year-old female from Parkwood QLD was participating in a free-fall parachuting course near Byron Bay.
At about 6pm she and several others jumped from a plane at 14,000 feet above Tyagarah Airport. The parachutist was experienced but still under instruction and made an error and crashed into trees.
The jumper came to a stop upside down in a thin tree, about 15 metres off the ground and about 50 metres west of the M1 Motorway. The female righted herself and emergency services were notified.
At. about 6.45pm Skydive Australia staff, Police, NSW Ambulance, VRA rescue and Westpac Rescue Helicopter all attended. One lane northbound on the M1 Motorway was closed to traffic.
VRA personnel managed to climb the tree and secure the female parachutist. With the assistance of VRA and Lifesaver paramedics, she was lowered to the ground with abseiling ropes and a high ladder just after 8pm.
She managed to walk out without assistance and was taken to the Byron Bay Central Hospital for a check-up.
Her only apparent injury was a minor ankle strain.
Why do people think it’s a good idea to jump out of perfectly serviceable aircraft?
Seriously though, those low level cross winds are unpredictable. They can get the best of them into trouble.