Crowds watch on in horror as skydive parachute plunges into ocean
Gold Coast beach-goers thought they were witnessing a tragedy as they watched a skydiver's parachute crash into the ocean.
But what onlookers didn't know was an experienced skydiver had acted quickly to prevent what could have been a disaster.
Soaring through the sky over Coolangatta, first-time skydiver Jack Boscher and his girlfriend, Taylah Dean, were trying out tandem skydiving, where they were each strapped to the front of an instructor.
After experiencing problems with Mr Boscher's parachute, instructor Jatre Campion made the decision to cut it free before deploying the emergency chute.
Onlookers on the beach could be forgiven for thinking they'd witnessed a tragedy after seeing the empty parachute plunge into the ocean.
Taylah's mother, Jenny Dean, watched on in horror from another plane and immediately feared the worst.
"Never seen anything like that. It was very stressful to see the chute coming down,” she told 7 News.
"It was just all twisted, the twisted chute, and I thought, 'Oh my God, oh my God'."
Visiting from Melbourne, the skydive was a 21st birthday present for Mr Boscher. It was his first jump.
His instructor recalled the moment he knew the first chute wasn't going to deploy.
"I just said, ‘Dude we need to use the reserve’, and he was like ‘For sure, do it’," Mr Campion told 7 News.
The birthday boy praised the instructor for remaining calm through the ordeal.
"He was nice and calm, I was calm," Mr Boscher said.
“I could feel him kicking his legs behind me trying to untwist us and I sort of had an idea of what was happening.”
It's just the seventh time the reserve chute needed to be activated in Mr Campion’s 7000 jumps.
