When licensed skydiver William “Bill” McCartin jumped out of a plane on Sunday afternoon, it started out as uneventful. McCartin had some 200 jumps until that point, but because it had been a couple of months since his last jump, he was accompanied by a coach, which is part of the FAA-approved skydiving licensing system. The jump was the final step for McCartin to again be allowed to skydive solo, but it ended in tragedy when he landed in the parking lot of the Gardiner fire department, sans his parachute harness. One nearby resident described the impact that killed the New York City resident as sounding like a “shotgun blast” in a Facebook discussion.
Instructor John Kieran had been on the plane with McCartin, but made a separate skydive after McCartin and the coach. The plane was flying at about 14,000 feet when McMartin and his coach jumped, and the two separated to give make room to open the parachutes.