US Army parachutist dies after Chicago air show accident

The airshow continued Sunday but the skydiving teams canceled their performances.

Hood succumbed to his injuries Sunday at 4 p.m., the Cook County medical examiner confirmed to the Associated Press. “These maneuvers are highly skilled”.

The accident in the skies over Chicago is still under investigation, Dixon said. “All of a sudden, they’re in the plane, then they’re not in the plane”, Shore said. If a parachutist is unconscious, as Hood was, “you just drift where the parachute takes you”, he said. He also had over 200 free fall jumps and 75 military static line jumps (a type of jump involving a parachute) under his belt.

Before serving in the Golden Knights, which he called “The Best Job Ever” on Facebook, Hood served as a Forward Observer in the 3/319th AFAR, at Ft Bragg, NC, according to his online biography.

Dixon didn’t return Enquirer messages seeking comment Monday. She believed this was the fourth fatality since 1959. “This is the first loss that members of this team have seen”. He got to fly with the Golden Knights and Leap Frogs as they prepared to wow the crowds along the lakefront the first day of the Air Show.

He was transported to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where he underwent surgery Saturday afternoon to relieve pressure that built up in his brain following a severe brain injury, according to the Chicago Tribune. ABC7 Chicago reported that the officer hit a building and fell “about 30 stories” high as stated by a witness. “It’s a great feeling to be able to exit the aircraft at 12,500 feet. It was really just devastating”, said Adam Weiner, a witness.

“The team members had formed a circle by holding hands in the air, then broke apart in different directions,” Chicago Tribune reports. He had been in the military for 14 years.

U.S Army/AP This undated photo provided by the U.S. Army shows Sgt. “He touched and affected a lot of people in this country”.

Heather Mendenhall told the daily paper she saw one of the men hit a building and afterward fall. He enlisted in the Army 10 years ago and ended up a platoon sergeant. He served five tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. “That was the thing that impressed me more than anything”, said former Lakota Wrestling Coach Scott Fetzer.