Yesterday, Dean Potter and Graham Hunt were found dead, after a wingsuit accident that occurred on Saturday in Yosemite Valley. As news broke out early on social media, details of the accident were unclear. Today, a number of news agencies are reporting details of the accident.
Here is an excerpt from an article by National Geographic that seems to best describe the accident.
An observer shooting photos of Hunt and Potter’s flight reported hearing two disconcerting, loud sounds in succession that suggested impact—but also could have been parachute deployment.
When the jumpers didn’t return from their outing on Saturday night, Jen Rapp, Potter’s partner in life, and Rebecca Haynie, Graham’s partner since January, approached Gauthier with the news that the jumpers had missed their scheduled arrival. Gauthier helped arrange a team from Yosemite Search and Rescue (YOSAR), and a hasty, ultimately unsuccessful search on foot was performed.
A helicopter was placed on standby for the following morning.
A California State helicopter arrived Sunday morning and the pilots, using the photos taken by the observer on the previous night, were able to quickly locate two subjects that matched Potter and Hunt’s descriptions. By noon, two rangers were short-hauled onto the site, they confirmed Potter and Hunt’s deaths, and performed the recovery. No parachutes had been deployed. For the full article, please click here
