mdowling

Only been skydiving for 18 months.... Skydive Jersey Shore (NJ) Sky's the Limit (NJ) Crosskeys (NJ) Deland (Fl) Miami (Fl) Naples (Fl) Elsinore (Ca) Las Vegas (Nv) Eloy (Az) WFFC Rantoul (Il)

Good to see that someone followed up with the reporter and provided additional information that was not available on deadline for the first story (though a slightly less accusatory tone would have been better - reporters aren't malicious people and I've been on the receiving end of several letters like this after a tragedy). Hopefully, he's responsible enough to write an update in a subsequent edition of the paper to explain the jumper's medical condition as a possible cause of his no pull. It seems Jessica's concerns spoke directly to my earlier point. If you leave the details and explanation to a non-jumping police officer (and they will give those out because of open public records laws), they will get the story muddled. Even if a dz's media response plan is only to issue a simple statement saying -- "(The jumper) was a beloved part of our close-knit skydiving community and we are deeply saddened by his loss. We can only hope that a thorough investigation will give us answers as to the cause of the accident. Until then, our first priority must be to convey our deepest condolences to his family." That at least puts a human and caring voice on our sport, which many people can't begin to understand.

Eric, I respect your opinion but I have to disagree. I qualify my thoughts with the fact that I'm a full-time newspaper reporter for a major metropolitan newspaper. As a few people pointed out, reporters very often get stuck reporting on things they have very little independent knowledge of at first. Reporters are often totally stuck repeating whatever information is provided through "official" sources. In this case, the police provided that info - and no offense to any cops out there, but they very often provide less than complete information for a variety of reasons. That being said, in my professional opinion, the story was pretty decent. Way better than others I've seen. Here's the solution (and I've seen some DZs that already do this based on their rapid response) - have a media plan for when accidents occur. They will occur. We know it. Plan for it. If you reread the story, the reporter tried to reach out to a rep from the dz and got turned away. There should be someone designated (usually the owner) to talk to the papers and tv folks when they call. And the people who answer the phone at the dz should know how to reach them at any hour to give that response. That is the absolute only way to get accurate information and terminology in the paper. Good reporters will take guidance from experts like a dz owner on how to phrase things if it's offered. Even if you don't want to talk directly about the accident, the media rep can give that all important quote about how great a person the skydiver was who just died or got badly hurt doing what we love. And if they report it poorly the next day, don't get offended. Give them a call and politely tell them how the story and terminology could have been more accurate. That might make the next accident story a better experience. Then invite the reporter to come cover the next charity event/demo/take a tandem/etc at the drop zone.

Six full days at Eloy (including 2 half days of travel) = 36 jumps for me including the chance to lead a fun tracking dive for my 400th with a buddy doing his 300th among those giving chase.

Still working on getting my four plus hours of Eloy video sorted out on my computer. Until then, here's a few stills I captured from the footage of flybys on four of the evenings, including a slightly enhanced nightshot of the DC-3 after the midnight NYE jump.

I was among the 10 jumpers who made the midnight jump. They explained the reason for the D requirement was the lack of full moon. It sure was a fun time and I'm glad I did it, though it sure was strange being stone sober as the clock struck 12:00.

Big Top does that stuff all the time at our home dz in Jersey (thus the name). He juggles fire, machetes, ride unicyles, wears 10 foot stilts. He also made his 100th jump at Eloy. Best shot was when he blew fire and lit our friend George's cigarette.

Thanks for the still picture of Big Top (aka Mike) breathing fire. I only had it on video.

The post-midnight New Year's Eve jump flyby of the DC-3 was amazing - only to be topped by the sunset New Year's Day formatioin flyby of the 3 Otters, DC-3 and jet. The jet then circled around and made a screaming solo flyby straight up the main landing area. Cool as hell. I got a few of the flybys on video including the two I just mentioned. The DC-3 looks amazing at night because of the fire spewing out of the exaust. I particularly liked that image when I left the plane at 13 grand on the New Year's Eve night jump.

E - A - G - L - E - S Eagles!!! Enjoy the game in person. Let's hope they get a second home playoff game!

Mele Kalikimaka - the Hawaiian Christmas song rocks. Jimmy Buffett's version is pretty cool.

I attended the Search last winter and found it to be tremendously helpful even though we got weathered out for about half of our jumps. I learned a lot on the ground and the eight coached jumps I made with T-Square from Skydive Orange were just what I needed to build some skills and confidence going into an active skydiving year. I had 30 jumps when I went to the Search in February. I'm nearing 400 now. Obviously, I highly recommend the Search. But I believe that jumps with any USPA coach is money well spent.

33:2:3 33 = high temperature in Newton, NJ (site of Sky's the Limit) on Saturday with 6 inches of snow on the ground from Thursday's storm.

Comedy: Fletch Drama: The Big Chill Action: Die Hard Suspense: Usual Suspects Old movies: Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein

At our dz, it seems nearly everyone's got a nickname for some reason or another. I got stuck with "Jumpslut" because I'm always trying to get on every load. My roommates call me "Father Dowling" from that idiotic tv show. (No, I don't like little boys) At work, it's sometimes "Doctor," because my initials are MD and I worked with another reporter with the same first name. In college, it was "Scoop" for a short while because I'm a newspaper reporter. At my beach house, it was "Swoop" for a few summers for completely non-skydiving reasons (think of picking up women)

It's a shame you found out so late kev, the flight I booked from Philly to Phoenix in late Sept. cost just $280. I just checked and the same flight on America West is now nearly $500

The paper posted a short follow story today saying the jumper's heavy gloves may have caused him trouble deploying. As with any media account, a grain of salt is required until the real report comes out. Here's the story

BA in Communication (aka journalism) from Seton Hall University

I'm in the office today. The newspaper business is a 365-day a year operation. This is my 6th consecutive Thanksgiving working despite my best efforts at a reprieve

Glad you survived to tell the tale (and a well-told tale it was) Deuce. I just made the same exact downsize at almost the exact same experience level (Spectre 170 to 150). I keep off the front risers below 1000 feet and probably will for a good long while. Call me chicken, but swooping isn't in my less than 1,000 jump future. After that, I'll start thinking about it.

I should hit 400 sometime around day 3 of Eloy.

Nice meeting you at CK yesterday Jeremy. You had me beat. I only got in 5 jumps on an amazing mid-November day in New Jersey.

Duly noted Sunshine. We could have used one more for the foursome.

0:3:0 Got to Crosskeys for three jumps on Friday before the weather moved in and made a mess of the weekend. Played 10 holes of virtual reality indoor golf at Dave and Buster's in Philly on Saturday, though. Fun game.

I voted for the 50+ category. I'll be there 7 full days (one half if I hustle from the airport). Considering I made 70 jumps in 9 days at WFFC, 50+ should be realistic for Eloy. Damn, I'm gonna be broke. Happy as hell, but broke.