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Darwin Awards
2006 Slush Pile

This item was recently submitted by a reader.
Should I include it in the archive?
Vote to tell me what *you* think!

Fickle wind killed man wearing

2006 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

An Erath County man fell to his death Saturday after becoming airborne in a parachute while tethered to a parked truck, a state trooper said Wednesday.

Kelly Mills, 33, and some friends found the old parachute while cleaning out a barn, said Cpl. Kenneth Bratton of the Texas Department of Public Safety.

The group wanted to try out the parachute, and Mills volunteered to be strapped in, the friends told investigators.

They took the parachute to a field off County Road 208 and tethered Mills to a pickup truck with a rope, Bratton said.

The friends held the parachute open until the wind caught it and lifted Mills 30 to 40 feet in the air, Bratton said.

"Unfortunately, the wind stopped, and he fell straight down," he said.

Wind gusts in Erath County were 15 to 20 mph Saturday afternoon but with many calm periods, according to the National Weather Service.

The Tarrant County Medical Examiner has ruled Mills' death an accident.

Submitted on 08/17/2006

Submitted by: Rex Dillingham
Reference: A.Branch/Star Telegram8/1706

Copyright © 2006 DarwinAwards.com

Great? 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Awful?
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>> Moderator Scores <<

James said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
Ah! CLASSIC stupidity!!! NO bystanders (ALL participants). Folks, it is one thing to go parasailing. It is yet another to tether a parachute (which has NO inherent lifting capability) to a stationary object. When one is flying a kite and the wind suddenly stops, WHAT happens to the kite??? Need I say more? I'll vote DA, and with much vigour, yet, even!!!! :-)


Sheryl said:
Maybe Toss: Other
Thanks for the submission, Rex. I'm of two minds over this one. I searched the archives and turned up a couple of guys who did the same thing with a military cargo chute. (They, however, lived.) Another Mod please!!!


Fitzroy said:
Definitely Keep: Darwin Award
I also see great potential here. I don't think this sort of thing is too common. Yet it was stupid and lethal, and probably spectacularly so at that.


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