By Myrna Traintvein
Times-News Correspondent
Two skydivers, jumping in tandem at the Nephi City Airport, died after their parachutes failed.
On August 10, 2017 at 6:30 p.m. in Juab County, at the Nephi City Airport, two skydivers jumped from a Cessna 182 plane owned by Skydive the Wasatch based in Nephi. Sky Dive the Wasatch runs a business out of the Nephi City Airport.
Nephi City Police Chief Mike Morgan said that Wendi Gabaldon, 41, of Tooele, and skydiving instructor Serena Whelchel, 35, of California, died in the accident.
“The two skydivers were in a recreational tandem jump,” said Morgan. “It appears that the parachutes did not properly function.”
The women fell into an area just west of the airport.
He said that Juab County dispatch received a 911 call at 7:19 p.m.
“Officers from Nephi City and Juab County immediately responded,” said Morgan.
CPR was started.
“The cause of the accident is still under investigation,” said Morgan.
“The victims were immediately transported by ambulance to the Central Valley Medical Center where they succumbed to their injuries,” Morgan said.
A spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration said the FAA investigates civilian skydiving accidents and, in tandem jumps, look into credentials of instructors and other variables.
Andrew Karnowski, on behalf of Skydive the Wasatch, issued a statement Friday afternoon.
“Skydive the Wasatch personnel are working with local authorities conducting the investigation of this incident,” said Karnowski. “Our sincerest condolences go out to both families.”
Nephi City Police Captain Bert Wright said that the instructor had made numerous skydives. While he did not know the exact number, he said officers had been told those experiences numbered in the thousands.
“Witnesses are saying they were kind of in a rotating motion. The secondary parachute was somewhat deployed,” said Wright.
Evening dives at the airport occur frequently, Wright said.
The usual landing spot is at the Nephi CityAirport and those who were waiting on the ground quickly noticed something was wrong as the two continued falling off course. Witnesses say the two ended up coming down out of control on the other side of the airport.
Investigators reported that the main parachute did not deploy, and it was the backup chute which malfunctioned.
Skydive the Wasatch is a new skydiving drop zone, founded by a young, highly experienced crew of athletes who love introducing new people to the delicious freedom of freefall.
Drop zone owner Dan McNulty, a decorated military veteran, started Skydive the Wasatch as a way to share his love of skydiving in a beautiful location, convenient for jumpers coming from all over Utah
According to the United States Parachute Association, “The sport of skydiving continues to improve its safety record.”
In 2016, USPA recorded 21 fatal skydiving accidents in the U.S. out of roughly 3.2 million jumps. That’s one fatality per 153,557 jumps—one of the lowest rates in the sport’s history.
“Tandem skydiving has an even better safety record, with one student fatality per 500,000 tandem jumps over the past decade,” said USPA. “According to the National Safety Council, a person is much more likely to be killed getting struck by lightning or stung by a bee.”
A GoFundMe page was created to help the Gabaldon family with upcoming funeral expenses.
Gabaldon leaves behind a husband, six children, and two grandchildren. According to her Facebook page, she was a graduate of East High School. Her profile picture on Facebook shows a shot of competitive bike racing. There are recent posts about a trip to Goblin Valley with her family.
Social media posts said that Gabaldon was skydiving with other members of her family Thursday.
It was Gabaldon’s second tandem jump. | 