The families of parachutists killed in the crash of a GA8 Airvan in 2019 are suing manufacturer GippsAero for what they say is negligence.
Eight skydivers and the pilot died in the July 2019 crash at Storsandskar near Umeå in Sweden. The accident investigation concluded that the skydivers moved to the back of the aircraft in preparation for the jump, which altered the weight distribution and caused the aircraft to stall.
The aircraft broke up in flight during a rapid descent to the ground.
Swedish Statens Haverikommission (SHK) investigators also found that the load sheet didn't contain the weights of the parachutists, so the pilot was unable to complete weight-and-balance calculations. The Airvan was also found to be overloaded.
SHK also concluded that the pilot had limited flight experience in general and particularly in the Airvan, and did not have requisite ability for the complexity of the flight. The pilot also had no specific licence to fly jump planes, the flight was done with a large amount of cloud and the drop height of 13,000 feet suggested the potential for hypoxia.
According to documents lodged with the Supreme Court in Melbourne, the 20 plaintiffs in the action maintain that GippsAero and/or the company holding the type certificate, GA8 Airvan Pty Ltd, caused the crash through negligence by:
- failing to provide any or adequate instructions in the flight manual as to the proper operation of the aircraft when parachutists are jumping from the plane
- failing to include any warnings in the aircraft as to the consequences of parachutists moving rearward to jump and the danger of this
- failing to ensure the aircraft was suitable for the conduct of parachuting operations.
The plaintiffs contend that the manufacturers of the aircraft owed a duty of care to all user of the type to ensure that it is safe for parachute operations and that doing so would not "jeopardise the flight characteristics of the aircraft".
GippsAero is yet to file a defence to the litigation, which will be heard in Victoria despite GippsAero's contention that it should be heard in Sweden.
GippsAero produces a parachuting supplement to the flight manual that states "When conducting coordinated exits no more than five (5) parachutists may congregate aft of the forward edge of the cabin door exit with no more than three (3) outside of the aircraft.
"Time spent setting up in this arrangement should be minimized. Parachutists inside the cabin should remain as forward as practically possible."
All parachutists moving to the rear of the aeroplane in preparation for jumping is not a common practice in Australia, and in most missions the exit procedure is rehearsed on the ground beforehand to make sure the exit is safe.