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(22 November 1980, Missouri) The Gateway Arch soars 630 feet above the city
of St. Louis. Around 9 a.m., a technician entering the park's interpretive
center saw an object falling down the north leg of the arch. The object
turned out to be Kenneth, 33, who was trying to impress his wife on her
birthday.
His plan was to parachute onto the top of the arch. It didn't bother
Kenneth that the park service had turned down his request for permission to
jump. Kenneth had already made over 1,600 jumps. He knew what he was
doing. And a true daredevil never needs permission.
The day dawned with howling winds and bitter cold. The weather would have
given most parachutists second thoughts about making a jump. But Kenneth
had psyched himself up by watching a documentary on parachute daredevils,
and Kenneth knew what he was doing.
He left his wife a note asking her to come and photograph his triumph. At
8:55 a.m. he leapt from a light plane and soared successfully to the top of
the monument. He had conquered the Gateway Arch, with his wife watching
from the ground!
He grabbed onto the aircraft warning light, to steady himself against the
raging wind. The first part of the plan had gone perfectly. Of course it
had, Kenneth knew what he was doing. Now came the harder part: getting
down.
The arch is hollow, with a viewing area inside, just beneath Kenneth's
feet. Perhaps he was looking for a trap-door into the arch, but there was
no trap-door. A gust of wind caught his deflated parachute and threw him
off balance. He began sliding down the north leg of the arch. About halfway
down, he tried to deploy his backup parachute, but it failed.
Another gust caught his parachute and blew him off the arch. He fell the
rest of the way, landing head-first in the terrazzo below. He was
pronounced dead at a local hospital about one hour after performing his
last jump.
And that's what comes from thinking you know what you're doing.
Reader Andy says, "Actually this story is older than 1980. I heard
about it on a tour of the arch in the 1970s, and it was old then. The
would-be parachutist hit the top of the arch at an angle, his chute
collapsed, and when he tried to stand and release his chute, a gust of wind
pulled him onto the slope. The chute collapsed again,and he left a crater.
BUT, the story goes, if the Cardinals were playing a home game, he had a
helluva view for a few seconds. Also, you can't fly under the arch,
because of a semi-disasterous attempt to do so."
DarwinAwards.com © 1994 - 2012
Submitted by: Peter Kastl
Reference: www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/jeff/adhi2-13.htm and personal accounts
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Conquering the Arch
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