Grand Canyon skydive death ruled accidental

Christopher Swales and his wife Deborah were holidaying in Arizona when he died

A man who died after a skydive went wrong had been given a parachute with holes patched over, an inquest has heard.

Christopher Swales, 55, from Harrogate, North Yorkshire, had been given the Grand Canyon skydive as a 30th wedding anniversary gift by his wife.

A US police investigation into Mr Swales' death in 2019 was closed after it was found to be accidental.

North Yorkshire coroner Jonathan Heath also ruled the death was accidental.

US police examined the parachute as part of their investigation and found it had "numerous patches sewn into the fabric".

Defects or holes in the material had been circled with a pen, but their investigation was closed after they ruled Mr Swales' death was accidental.

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Mr Swales and his wife Deborah had renewed their wedding vows while holidaying in Arizona in September 2019.

They had booked the skydive with a company called Paragon Skydiving and Mr Swales was partnered with instructor Matthew McGonagle for the jump.

In a statement, Mr McGonagle said everything had been normal on the morning of the jump and, although the winds were strong at 27mph, he had jumped many times in those conditions.

The 34-year-old worked for the US Air Force and had completed more than 1,500 jumps. He also worked at the weekends with the skydiving company.

The two men had jumped from the Cessna aircraft and the parachute was opened, but witnesses on the ground said the men began free-falling a short while later.

Mr Swales suffered serious injuries on impact and was later pronounced dead. Mr McGonagle broke his leg.

Christopher Swales was given the Grand Canyon skydive as a wedding anniversary gift

He told American police he felt the pressure change as they approached the landing area and he suspected the parachute collapsed, but he could remember little else.

Company owner Jason Theuma said in a statement to police all the equipment had been functioning correctly and Mr McGonagle must have panicked when he realised they were going to miss the landing area.

Jonathan Heath, North Yorkshire's coroner, said it appeared "there was nothing untoward at the start of the free fall parachute jump".

He added: "It then appeared that the landing site was going to be missed. A manoeuvre was performed. The parachute did not recover from that manoeuvre which led to the free fall.

"On the balance of probabilities this was an accident."

After the hearing, members of Mr Swales' family said: "It is important for these proceedings to establish the facts.

"Chris had a very full life. Full of love and exciting fun times. We had many good times. That is how we are going to remember him".

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