Death of Bury St Edmunds teacher James Brooke caused by misjudgement during parachute jump landing

A misjudgement by a special needs teacher from Chedburgh during a parachute jump cost him his life, an inquest has heard.

James Brooke, 26, had been using a camera on his helmet to film two others making a tandem jump at Beccles Airfield at Ellough on May 19 when he landed heavily.

Mr Brooke had made 941 previous jumps since qualifying four years earlier and was a licensed parachute coach.

Today (Monday) an inquest at Suffolk Coroners Court in Ipswich was told that Mr Brooke was thrown 20 metres as he struck the ground and suffered severe head injuries.

Mr Brooke, of Stirling Road, Chedburgh, had worked as a teacher at Riverwalk School in Bury St Edmunds which caters for children with complex and profound learning needs.

Following the accident, Mr Brooke was taken to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital where a scan revealed he had sustained a significant unsurvivable brain injury as well as multiple fractures.

The inquest heard how Mr Brooke had jumped from a Cessna aircraft with 16 other parachutists on board at 12,500 ft seconds before the couple he was was filming and had enjoyed an incident free descent until he was about 1,000 ft from the ground.

A report drawn up by the British Parachute Association following a board of inquiry investigation begun on the day of the tragedy had concluded that Mr Brooke had been attempting to make a "high performance landing" but been too low when he went into a 270 degree turn.

Examination of footage from the camera on Mr Brooke's helmet showed him using an monitor on his arm to check his height at 1,600 ft and then at 1,000 ft before turning and preparing to land.

The BPA report, authorised by the Civil Aviation Authority, concluded that Mr Brooke had commenced his landing manoeuvre when he was too close to the ground and had been unable to correct his speed in time to avoid striking the ground.

Upon making a heavy landing on his knees, Mr Brooke had been thrown 20 metres and landed on his head.

Checks on Mr Brooke's parachute equipment showed there were no faults and it was confirmed that he had been experienced and qualified to make the jump.

The inquest heard that Mr Brooke's death had been recorded as being due to hypoxic brain injury, multiple organ failure and traumatic injury.

Recording a conclusion that Mr Brooke's death was an accident, Assistant Suffolk Coroner Dr Daniel Sharpstone said: "It appears that Mr Brooke was quite an experienced parachutist but on the occasion in question was attempting a high performance landing.

"It appeared that he misjudged this and therefore came down heavily, resulting in a serious head injury."