Parachutist survives 3,500 metre plunge

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - A South African skydiver has survived a 3,500 metre (11,500 ft) plunge after her parachute failed to open and lines broke on her reserve chute, a local skydiving club says.


Christy McKenzie was hurtling towards the ground at more than 200 kms (120 miles) per hour on Sunday when her parachute failed to deploy, Johan Mulder, the chief instructor at the Johannesburg Skydiving Club, told Reuters on Monday.


"When it didn't open she tried to deploy her reserve parachute and it had a fairly hard opening. A couple of the lines broke and so it was not fully open," he said.


This meant that her descent was still dangerously fast.


Powerlines broke her fall and may have saved her life. She survived with a hairline fracture to her pelvis.


"It's extremely, extremely rare ... it's unheard of that there are malfunctions in reserve parachutes," Mulder said, adding that the equipment was being sent to the manufacturer to determine why it did not work properly.


The Johannesburg Star newspaper quoted McKenzie, an experienced skydiver, as saying from her hospital bed: "I'll jump again."


The incident occurred at Carletonville, about 70 km (40 miles) west of Johannesburg.