7 replies to this topic

[hawkeye]

Hi Everyone

On the 22 April 1992, a Jump Ship at Perris Valley, California nosedived into the ground soon after takeoff, where a heap of skydivers died, including some Aussies. It is now getting very close to the 20th Anniversary of losing some of our Aussie skydiving buddies at Perris Valley.

Our NT Skydiving buddy, who was on the plane, was Kiwi John Andrew Huia Henderson.

Kiwi John rang me just a couple of days before that happened, and told me he was one of the happiest 4 million people in the world, and if anything happened to him, let the rest of the world know that.

You can check the attached NT News Paper article about him and also the proxy club votes he gave before he headed off to Perris.
 Kiwi News 6 May 1992.pdf   361.95K   45 downloads

As it will be very close to the Aussie Bigway Championship over there this year, I hope many of our attendees over there will run a bit of memorial tribute service for the Aussie skydiving buddies we lost back then.

[KGB]

Thanks Tom..
I suspect there'll be something happening to remember recent losses. Let's not forget your mate.
K

[Luke Oliver]

When I get in the plane, I try to connect the supplied restraint. That's my memorial.

[Gravity7]

Luke Oliver, on 15 February 2012 - 03:00 PM, said:

When I get in the plane, I try to connect the supplied restraint. That's my memorial.

Ditto.
Every time I hook on the restraint, bits of the accident report float through my head.
Then I take a bit more slack out of it.

[hawkeye]

KGB, on 15 February 2012 - 01:54 PM, said:

Thanks Tom..
I suspect there'll be something happening to remember recent losses. Let's not forget your mate.
K

Thanks Kelly

I hope it works out well

[hawkeye]

Hi Everyone
It is now just past the the 20th Anniversary of losing some of our Aussie skydiving buddies at Perris Valley.
When on the 22 April 1992, a Jump Ship at Perris Valley, California nosedived into the ground soon after takeoff, where a heap of skydivers died, including some Aussies.

Including our NT Skydiving buddy, who was on the plane, Kiwi John Andrew Huia Henderson.

[KGB]

Hey Tom.. There's a memorial garden at Perris for the people who died in the crash. The survivors held a bit of a reflection gathering there this week. I was planning on making a quiet visit next month and paying some respects to your friend. Maybe send me a personal email if there's some stuff for me/us to know and say? There'll also be a lot of love to send to our recent Aussie loss at the very same DZ, the beautiful, talented very special Nicole.  Friends don't just disappear in a flash just because they';re gone. Thank you for ensuring your friend is remembered. xx

[John Cook]

Hey Tom, thanks for keeping Kiwi in our memories.....
My 1st memory is TC taking him for a Tandem at Katherine while I'm doing my best to be GCO with a fresh knee reconstruction..1987?
As a young DZSO a year or two later Kiwi to me was like how do I harness this wild talent but not diminish it.(thanks Max & Duncan for backing me)
He was on the up and up at Perris so it was devasting that his big opportunity led to his demise.
Tears & Beers
PS. Buckle up so you or mates ain't recorded as crushed to death.