Two skydivers died after becoming snagged on a newly added metal step on a plane, dangling frantically before falling, a New South Wales court has heard. Experienced instructor Stephen Hoare, 37, and his tandem passenger Alex Welling, 32, died during a skydive at Goulburn airport on 27 June 2021.
SafeWork NSW has charged Goulburn Flight Training Centre and its sole director, Attilio Giovanni Ferrara, also known as John Ferrara, with two counts each of breaching workplace safety duties. The court heard that a metal step had recently been added to the Cessna aircraft, owned by Ferrara's son's company, to assist with tandem skydives.
The workplace watchdog's barrister, Darien Nagle, said risks of snagging on the step had been identified in the flight training centre's own documents. He also stated that no 'buddy check' was carried out on the men's equipment before the jump, which could have identified the loose webbing that became snagged.
A GoPro video showed Welling smiling as he moved towards the open door, strapped to Hoare. The men sat on the edge before attempting to launch, but a black strap got caught on the plane's exterior, leaving them dangling upside down. One man was heard swearing before the camera followed another skydiver who landed safely.
Nagle said the addition of steps on Cessna skydiving planes was common practice, but similar steps were removed from other planes after the deaths. 'It is, of course, an absolute tragedy these types of safety measures have to be taken after an incident like this,' he said.
Barrister Maurice Baroni, representing Ferrara and his company, indicated parts of the evidence would be disputed, including whether the flight centre was correctly identified as the corporate defendant. Under cross-examination, a SafeWork NSW inspector acknowledged employees referred to the company as Adrenaline Skydive rather than Goulburn Flight Training Centre.
