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'Tragedy of my life': Pilot sentenced for decapitating skydiver with plane's wing

Author
NZ Herald,
Publish Date
Thu, 23 Nov 2023, 1:03pm
A skydiver died when he was decapitated by the plane's wing.
A skydiver died when he was decapitated by the plane's wing.

'Tragedy of my life': Pilot sentenced for decapitating skydiver with plane's wing

Author
NZ Herald,
Publish Date
Thu, 23 Nov 2023, 1:03pm

A pilot has been banned from flying after he decapitated a skydiver with the wing of his plane in a freak incident. 

Nicolas Galy, 40, was one of 10 parachutists on board a flight over Toulouse, France. 

He was one of two passengers to leap from the plane at around 14,000 feet wearing a sleek wingsuit. 

But his thrill-seeking adventure ended in tragedy after just 20 seconds when he collided with the wing of his plane which completely severed his head off his body, killing him instantly. 

The incident happened in 2018, but has only recently been before the courts in France. 

Le Parisien reported that there had been no consultation on the flight path the plane would take after the jump. 

The pilot, named by French media as 64-year-old Alain C, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. 

The diving school he worked for, Midi-Pyrénées Skydiving School Association, was also fined 20,000 euros for the deadly incident. 

Alain had told the court the incident was “the tragedy of my life”, but insisted he did nothing wrong. 

He instead blamed Galy for the incident, claiming the diver deviated from the flight plan, and alleged he behaved recklessly before dying. 

Alain believed he was well clear of the wingsuiters before beginning his descent. 

Galy was an experienced parachutist with 226 jumps. 

Despite this, Alain claimed Galy “did not follow the expected course and never should have been on that course. 

“He was parallel to the plane... It wasn’t my responsibility, I think my flight path made sense. 

“This has been the tragedy of my life but I am not at fault.” 

It emerged in court that Alain was flying with an invalid license at the time of the tragedy. 

His flying privileges were restricted by the French aviation authority because of a medical condition. 

The lawyer for the victim’s relatives slammed the pilot, saying he had “a lot of recklessness or negligence”. 

Alain was given a suspended sentence and banned from flying. 

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