Chilling video captured a British daredevil unknowingly
leaping to his death as his parachute failed to open during a base jump from a
29-story building in Thailand.
Nathy Odinson, 33, who posts videos of his stunts on social
media, climbed atop the building in the coastal resort of Pattaya on Saturday
night, the Daily Mirror reported.
A friend captured him smiling as he checks and adjusts his
equipment, including a camera that he realizes is not recording so he takes off
his helmet to press a button.
Odinson then checks his chute, says, “Three, two, one, see
ya!” — and takes the fateful plunge.
In the shocking video, he can be heard hitting a tree and
landing on the ground after the green pilot chute he was holding failed to
deploy.
Paramedics pronounced him dead and an investigation into the
tragic accident has been launched. Police suggested the parachute merely
“malfunctioned,” while Odison’s brother blamed “user error.”
UK daredevil Nathy Odinson, 33, is seen seconds before he was
killed when his parachute failed to deploy during a base jump in Thailand.
Kanet Chansong, 33, a security guard who was nearby during
the incident, said: “I heard the sound of the tree and I thought it was a
fallen branch hitting the ground.”
“A woman screamed so I walked over and realized it was a
person. They were dead. I saw that they had jumped from the building,” Chansong
added, according to The Mirror.
He said Odinson had had jumped from the building several
times before.
“They were making video content for social media. They had
done this before and they knew it was not allowed,” Chansong said.
Odinson counted down before taking the fatal plunge in the
coastal resort of Pattaya.ViralPres
Police Lt. Kamolporn Nadee said that the parachute
“malfunctioned” and was being examined.
“He was in a terrible state when we arrived,” the cop said,
“The friend who recorded the video of him jumping was questioned and the video
was examined as evidence. Forensics officers are investigating the case
further.”
The British Embassy in Bangkok was notified of the tragedy
and was contacting Nathy’s family in the UK.
“We are supporting the family of a British man who has
died in Thailand,” a Foreign Office spokesperson said.
The content creator was declared dead at the scene on
Saturday night.ViralPress
Odinson’s brother Ed Harrison, 39, told
The Sun that the harrowing video showed how the small pilot chute got
caught in his harness.
He said simple “user error” led to the tragedy.
“Looking at that video, any skydiver would immediately tell
you what is wrong,” Harrison told the outlet.
“As he is standing, he is holding a white mini parachute called a pilot chute
that has a cord going to the main chute, which is the bridle,” he said. “You
throw the pilot chute into the relative wind flow and that deploys the main
chute in his bag on the back.
Nathy Odinson posted videos of his jumps from all over the
world.Nathy Odinson / Facebook
“What you can clearly see is that the bridle is routed through
his harness so there is no chance it could have opened the main chute,”
Harrison told The Sun.
“It was a simple mistake he had made without realizing. He looks hurried which
is a bad thing, perhaps worried someone might have stopped the jump,” he said.
“It’s a really simple thing and you can see he has tried to rectify the bridle
but he hasn’t looked and no one else has done a check for him. Base jumping is
dangerous because you don’t have a second chance,” the brother said.
“The equipment was checked after he died by a professional rigger and it was in
good working condition. There was no problem with his kit,” he added.
An investigation into Odinson’s tragic death has been
launched.Nathy Odinson / Facebook
Harrison said his brother had more than 500 jumps under his
belt from all over the world.
“He had jumped in America, Spain, New Zealand, Thailand and
the Philippines and had made friends in all of those places,” he said.
“He was fun-loving and joyful and was great with kids. He was a hero to my three
children. They spoke to him frequently as I video-called him every other day.
They still can’t believe this is real,” Harrison said.
He noted that Odinson had been using the same chute as Rowan
Atkinson’s character in the 2011 James Bond parody “Johnny English Reborn” –
and even still had the word “spying” on it.
Odinson was an experienced base jumper and daredevil.Nathy
Odinson / Facebook
Harrison said another skydiver who worked as a consultant on
the flick gave his brother the chute about a year ago.
Base jumping derives from the acronym BASE, which stands for
four categories of fixed objects from which a person can jump: buildings,
antennas, spans and earth.
The sport is significantly more dangerous than skydiving
because jumpers have just a few seconds to react in case something goes wrong
and typically have no backup.
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