never jump out of a perfectly good plane

EHITCH

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Elizabeth
Skydiving trip ends in crash

By M. Daniel Gibbard
Tribune staff reporter
Published May 27, 2005, 9:30 PM CDT



A skydiver and a pilot who parted ways 13,000 feet over southern Wisconsin on Thursday were reunited unexpectedly with nearly disastrous results as the plane attempted to land, police said Friday.

Pilot David Sifft of Skydive Midwest dropped seven parachutists near Yorkville, Wis., just west of Racine, said Lt. Connie Mallwitz of the Racine County Sheriff's Department. As Sifft returned to land at Sylvania Airport, his wing clipped in the back one of the skydivers, Joseph Malgioglio, who was 25 feet above ground.

The single-engine Pilatus PC 6 veered right and hit trees on the north side of the runway, said Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Tony Molinaro. The plane was substantially damaged in the crash, which occurred about 3 p.m., he said.

Sifft, 52, who lives in Illinois, suffered facial injuries, while Malgioglio, 30, who is staying in Racine, complained of an injured back, Mallwitz said. Both were treated at a hospital and released, she said.

The FAA is handling the investigation, which will take four to six weeks, Molinaro said.

The pilot and the jumper were experienced, Mallwitz said. Sifft has 17,000 flying hours and Malgioglio has made 6,000 parachute jumps.

Mallwitz said the two obviously are lucky.

"It's just a fluke that both of them are alive," she said, "considering that one of them got hit by an airplane wing" and the other was involved in a plane crash.
 
Alarming but less tragic than the one almost exactly a month ago in Fla.
 
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