28 Killed In Skydiving Accidents At NorCal Facility Yet Business Is Still Open: Report

COLLIERVILLE, CA — Twenty-eight people have died over the years at a Northern California skydiving operation, yet it remains in business and there is a lack of clarity regarding which regulatory agency, if any, could shut it down, SFGate detailed in a lengthy report.

The accidents at Lodi Parachute Center north of Stockton occurred between 1985 and 2021, according to the outlet, and the victims include 15-year-old Devon Whittaker in 1993 and 18-year-old Tyler Turner, whose death in 2016 has led to some reform.

Turner was celebrating his high school graduation by doing a tandem jump with skydiver Yong Kwon, 25, who had recently moved from South Korea, SFGate reported, adding both were killed after their parachutes became tangled and didn’t open.

The deaths led to Tyler’s Law in 2017, which holds skydiving proprietors accountable legally for vetting instructor training and credentials after it came to light that Kwon was not certified or appropriately trained, according to the outlet.

Turner’s parents received a $40 million judgment but have yet to get any money from the parachute center’s former owner, Bill Dause, SFGate reported, adding a Federal Aviation Administration inspector in 2019 told Dause to stop tandem jumps at the facility.

Robert Pooley, the instructor who taught Kwon’s tandem class, is accused of teaching with a suspended certification and forging another instructor’s signature, according to the outlet, which reported he is set to go to trial for multiple charges this spring.

And yet, the jumps continue, SFGate reported. The FAA and United States Parachute Association mainly rely on self-regulation, according to the outlet. The FAA in 2010 and 2011 issued $933,000 total in fines against Dause and the center for not following regulations, but the fine was not collected by the FAA, and an agency spokesperson told SFGate it could not shutter the business.

The day Turner died, operations at the center continued, according to the outlet, and after the most recent fatality in 2021, Dause told reporters, “We’re sad, but it’s just like a car wreck or anything else,” adding, “You have to go on.”

Read more from SFGate.