Probable cause
The inadvertent deployment of the instructor's reserve parachute.
NTSB analysis
During a skydiving flight at approximately 14,000 feet, an instructor positioned himself at the door opening with his jump student nearby. The student inadvertently pulled the instructor's reserve parachute D-ring, deploying the chute and pulling the instructor out of the airplane. The instructor contacted the left horizontal stabilizer then descended toward the ground coming to rest suspended in a tree by his parachute.
Text from the NTSB. Open the NTSB docket for ERA09LA435 for the full record.
Event
- Date
- Aug 1, 2009
- Type
- Accident
- Place
- West Point, Virginia
- Highest injury
- Fatal
- Fatal injuries
- 1
- Weather
- Visual (VMC)
- Light
- Day
Beech B90
- N-number
- N1999G
- Category
- Airplane
- Damage
- Substantial
- Operating rule
- Part 91 (general aviation)
- Purpose of flight
- Skydiving
From the NTSB aviation accident database: N-registered aircraft, events since 2008, data through Oct 28, 2026. The file is published monthly, so the latest weeks are incomplete and recent records can change. The official source is the NTSB aviation investigation search. CheckAero is independent and not affiliated with the NTSB.