Base-jump airman's parachute 'opened late' in Swiss death crash

Adam Roots was a veteran of more than 600 skydives and 45 base jumps

An experienced skydiving instructor died when his pack opened too late as he base-jumped off a peak in the Swiss Alps, an inquest heard.

But investigators could not conclude whether Suffolk father-of-two Adam Roots, 38, pulled the cord too late or whether his parachute malfunctioned.

The staff sergeant with the Army Air Corps at Wattisham died on 25 July while on leave in Switzerland.

Assistant coroner Dr Dan Sharpstone's conclusion was accidental death.

The inquest heard Staff Sgt Roots, of Gisleham, had completed 45 base jumps since completing a course in Italy in 2017, and was a veteran of 600 skydives.

He arrived with friends at La Mousse jump-off point in the Lauterbrunnen region shortly before midday to prepare for the 530m (1,740ft) descent.

'Already too late'

After notifying the authorities Staff Sgt Roots decided to do the first jump, said friend Gary Lincoln-Hope, who watched the descent.

"To me it looked like Adam had a problem opening the chute," he said in a statement read to the court. "When his chute opened it was already too late."

Mr Lincoln-Hope alerted emergency services and then made a parachute descent to where his friend had landed.

Staff Sgt Roots had packed his own parachute, which had been bought new for the trip and with which he had made 11 jumps already, the court heard.

A technical investigation said the first phase of Staff Sgt Roots' flight had been "without difficulty" but for "unknown reasons" the parachute was late to open.

The cause "was most likely to be a problem with pulling the pilot sheet or pulling the pilot sheet too late, known as a low pull", added the report.

Following Staff Sgt Roots' death, friends raised more than £12,000 to support his wife and children.