Skydiver lands with dying instructor at his back
Daniel Pharr says he was in the middle of his first-ever skydive, thousands of feet over South Carolina, when the instructor strapped to his back stopped talking to him Saturday.
The instructor, George “Chip” Steele of Skydive Carolina, was later pronounced dead. But as they were falling, Pharr — an Army soldier taking a private skydiving lesson — knew only that Steele wasn’t responding.
Pharr said he “went into survival mode,” using his military training to calm himself as he tried to get to ground safely.
“We’re just taught to deal with adversity, whether it be on the battlefront or at home or … up in the air, and you just do what you have to do — assess the situation and keep a calm head about you because it doesn’t do anybody any good to panic,” said Pharr, a private in the Army.
Pharr, able to steer himself only in right circles because he could use only the parachute’s right steering mechanism, managed to maneuver away from some obstructions and landed safely in Chester, South Carolina.
When they landed, Pharr attempted CPR, but it was too late.
Steele, 49, appeared to have died of a heart attack, Chester County Coroner Terry Tinker told the Rock Hill (South Carolina) Herald. An autopsy was being conducted Monday.
