Red Devil parachutist died after ‘showing off’ in unplanned stunt

'The brutal reality is he was my instructor and he should never have stood on the top of my canopy, I could have also been dead. I had no option.'

The Sergeant Major of the world-famous Red Devils parachute display team died after attempting an unplanned manoeuvre which sent him ‘plummeting’ to the ground.

Dean Walton, 36, was a skydiving expert who had completed more than 10,000 jumps and was involved in training UK special forces.

The Afghanistan veteran became entangled in his and another jumper’s parachute at 3,000 feet above the ground, and while the other man was able to free himself, Sgt Walton couldn’t and died ‘immediately’ on impact.

The fellow jumper, Nepalese mountaineer Nimsdai Purja, was found on his knees crying next to Sgt Walton’s body.

An inquest into the death, which happened during training near Seville in Spain last October 14, concluded he had died as a result of ‘misadventure’.

Giving evidence at the inquest, Mr Purja, 40, was questioned about a Facebook post he made the day after the tragic accident, where he said: ‘During a standard skydive, Dean and I were conducting canopy handling and canopy stacking drills.’

He insisted they made ‘basic’ plans including following each other while gliding, but did not expect to see Sgt Walton trying to stand on his canopy.

This was highlighted by the fact Sgt Walton’s canopy was significantly smaller surface area than his own – due to his expertise – and meant a canopy stacking would be even more difficult.

‘There was no discussion about it,’ Mr Purja said.

‘If we were, there would have had more of an advanced briefing – we never talked about it.

‘He probably wanted to show off and stand on top of my canopy.

‘The brutal reality is he was my instructor and he should never have stood on the top of my canopy, I could have also been dead. I had no option.’

Mr Purja added: ‘The plan was very basic. Jump out of the plane, get stable do free-fall drills, cut away at 6,000 feet, pull parachutes and land safely and that’s exactly what we were trying to do.

‘My assessment was we are losing the altitude very rapidly, we are going into spin, if we don’t do something about it, we are going to die.

‘I waited for a while for him to take actions, we couldn’t solve it and we are [closer to] hitting the ground quicker, so I operated the reserve.’

When asked how long he stuck with Sgt Walton to try and untangle, he answered: ‘Probably three seconds – it seems like forever though.’

A post mortem carried out in Spain found Sgt Walton died of poly-trauma, including fracturing both ankles, injuries to his face, and ‘severe’ injuries to his chest, spine and head.

Concluding the inquest at Winchester coroner’s court, Area Coroner Jason Pegg said: ‘Dean was someone who lit up a room and was an outstanding colleague and husband.

‘He was someone who served with great pride in the Parachute regiment.

‘In order for Dean to land on Mr Purja’s canopy safely he would have to brake hard, which would deflate the canopy, loose lift and cause the lesser canopy to collapse.

‘That appears to have been what happened.

‘When it collapsed, he fell into the canopy of Mr Purja which also collapsed. This occurred at 3,000 feet altitude and it is customary for the lowest person to cut away first.

‘Mr Purja did cut away – he would have been approaching 2,200 feet – the lowest altitude that can be safely done from.

‘The actions of Mr Purja when he cut away were entirely appropriate.’

Mr Pegg said GoPro footage showed Sgt Walton approaching Mr Purja’s canopy ‘carefully’ and ‘under control’ suggesting he meant to do it.

However, he said it was not planned by the two of them.

‘Mr Purja, I have found to be a very credible witness,’ he added.

‘It’s more likely than not it was not the plan for Dean to land on top of him. When Dean attempted that, it had the consequence of his parachute collapsing and him sadly plummeting to his death.’

He said the unplanned ‘attempted canopy stack manoeuvre’ was a ‘contributing factor’ to his death, as well as the different sized parachutes they each had.

He offered his ‘genuine sincere condolences’ to the family and friends of the ‘very highly regarded’ Sgt Walton.

Mr Walton and Mr Purja had first met a week before the incident, and had been doing 12 to 14 jumps a day to practice their skills.

The Red Devils are the Army’s equivalent of the RAF’s Red Arrows, and they perform at least 60 times every year, in the UK and internationally.

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