Search on for skydiver missing near Mount Si
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SEATTLE -- A King County sheriff's spokeswoman says a search for a skydiver reported missing in the Cascade foothills east of Seattle has been suspended until daylight Friday.
Sgt. Cindi West says about 75 members of the sheriff's search and rescue unit looked for the man for hours Thursday.
A helicopter pilot reported about 2:30 p.m. that a skydiver had jumped from the aircraft but failed to show up at a landing zone near Mount Si, about 30 miles from Seattle.
"Our hope is that he got stuck in a tree or maybe injured his leg or something and is just waiting for somebody to come rescue him," West said.
The pilot said three men were alternating going up in the helicopter to jump, with one jumping while the others waited at the landing zone.
The pilot said the men were jumping from about 6,500 feet. West says the line of sight was blocked for the men at the landing zone so they did not see their companion jump.
Glenn Wallace was one of the search and rescue volunteers. His crews used all-terrain vehicles to drive up trails nearby. While they didn't find the man, they were prepared to keep him alive.
"If someone's in trouble, we want to find them, get them to safety and get them to warmth and medical attention," Wallace said.
West says the 29-year-old missing man is from Florida. No additional information was released about him, the pilot or the other skydivers.
Sgt. Cindi West says about 75 members of the sheriff's search and rescue unit looked for the man for hours Thursday.
A helicopter pilot reported about 2:30 p.m. that a skydiver had jumped from the aircraft but failed to show up at a landing zone near Mount Si, about 30 miles from Seattle.
"Our hope is that he got stuck in a tree or maybe injured his leg or something and is just waiting for somebody to come rescue him," West said.
The pilot said three men were alternating going up in the helicopter to jump, with one jumping while the others waited at the landing zone.
The pilot said the men were jumping from about 6,500 feet. West says the line of sight was blocked for the men at the landing zone so they did not see their companion jump.
Glenn Wallace was one of the search and rescue volunteers. His crews used all-terrain vehicles to drive up trails nearby. While they didn't find the man, they were prepared to keep him alive.
"If someone's in trouble, we want to find them, get them to safety and get them to warmth and medical attention," Wallace said.
West says the 29-year-old missing man is from Florida. No additional information was released about him, the pilot or the other skydivers.
BSBD
Prayers to all here ..  His family and friends AND all the folks that are searching and attempting to find this man... Hope he is found alive....
A complete idiot....he should be on the TV show "Dumbest Diving"....
 @clem77 It's pretty clear who the idiot is here, friend.
 @clem77 I agree with the wsmith_84!  These are my friends and are far from idiots!  There are very accomplished BASE jumpers and skydivers!  The guy who is missing is a very accomplished wingsuit pilot.  Nobody knows what happens but we do know "THE IDIOT" is in a very bad position and we all hope he is OK!  Thank you SAR for all you hard work! Â
 @clem77 Why so?  Skydiving is a common sport.  I agree that jumping from a perfectly good aircraft is not something I would do, but those that do it aren't idiots.
The jump was from 6,500, and the jumper was using a wingsuit (which enables the user to "fly" a long lateral distance before deploying a parachute). The net result: a MUCH larger search area than a more vertical skydive.
Makes me what to holler  AIRBORNE!!
2000 feet is fine for a static line jump. Basically your parachute gets pulled the moment you jump.
I hope he is found safe.Â
I was hiking out there today... LOTS of wind too, not sure if that could be a factor.Â
Hang glider perhaps? That's what Mount Si is known for. 2000 feet is way low for skydiving.Â
 @lakeview the news now changed to 6000 feet
2000 ft is enough altitude for a jump...similar to a BASE jump but higher. I have 2000 jumps, 5 of them for a hot air balloon at that altitude. Hang glider or paraglider no way.
 @lakeview you show me how you fit a hang glider through a helicopter door - need a Chinook for that.Â
"en route." not '"in route."Â
KOMO 4's lead story @ 4
Rough neighborhood to jump in this time of year....and from only 2000 feet?
 @bagsofdirt Yeah, doesn't give much time for any errors...Â
and your main takes 500-1000 ft to open your reserve opens in around 150-250ft
 @Datsuyama  @bagsofdirtÂ
 @Datsuyama  @bagsofdirt channel 7 said they jumped from 6500 and opened at 2500 and as a skydiver that sounds more believable
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 @bagsofdirt I thought that seemed a little low too, but then I don't really know anything about skydiving.
 you can jump that low with experience otherwise you shouldnt jump any lower than 3500ft@katiemcc  @bagsofdirtÂ
 @katiemcc it's pretty low - consider this - most recreational dives are done from 8000-12,000 feet or so... most main chutes take about 500-1000 feet of falling to open fully so goes to show ya, there isn't much time to react at 2000 feet, especially if something goes wrong.  Just think here's some quick, dirty math - if they are falling at terminal velocity of about 120MPH, that's about 176 feet per second - he's got less than 6 seconds to open that chute before it's too late!  Now, he's got a little more time than that because he'll have to accelerate to terminal velocity but still...!
 @katiemcc  @Datsuyama its not different its bigger and packed differentÂ
 @katiemcc  @Datsuyama yes its bigger and packed different
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2,000 ft is plenty enough altitude for a parachute... base jumpers will do this from 800 feet! Not sure what happened, but as a jumper myself I am concerned for his safety....
@katiemcc @Datsuyama similar canopy (chute) but packed for a lower opening. A base canopy will open conservatively in under 300ft. 2000ft is super high.
 @Datsuyama Do basejumpers use a different type of chute? They jump from a lot lower than 8000 ft (or so I thought).
 the parachute was already stretched out and almost all the way open for the kingdom jump@Biggg Donnn  @Datsuyama  @katiemccÂ
 @Datsuyama  @katiemcc At a ballgame, we saw guy parachute successfully *INSIDE* the Kingdome, from the tippy-top of the dome,  chute fully open about half way down...