In France, a pilot in flight cut off a paratrooperʼs head with an airplane wing

Author:
Oleksandra Opanasenko
Date:

A French pilot accidentally cut off the head of parachutist Nicolas Gali with the wing of the plane. The court found him guilty of involuntary manslaughter — he received a 12-month suspended sentence and was banned from flying for one year.

The BBC writes about it.

In July 2018, 40-year-old paratrooper Nicholas Gali jumped out of a plane. After 10 seconds, at an altitude of 4,000 meters, he was hit by a wing, because the plane began to descend.

The investigation revealed that before the jump, the pilot and the parachutist did not agree on the trajectory the plane would fly. Nicholas Galiʼs death was caused by "negligence and imprudence."

The Midi-Pyrénées Association of Skydiving Schools, where the pilot worked, was fined €20,000. After the tragic death of a parachutist, security measures were tightened there.