In a tragic incident that has haunted the skydiving community, Ivan Lester McGuire, an experienced skydiver with over 800 jumps, accidentally jumped out of a plane without a parachute, leading to his untimely death. The incident occurred in April 1988, as McGuire was filming a parachuting lesson at 10,500 feet for the Franklin County Sport Parachute Center in North Carolina. The video footage, which has repeatedly gone viral, captures McGuire’s final moments as he jumps out of the plane, only to realize mid-air that he is without his parachute.
McGuire’s haunting last words, “Oh my God, no,” were recorded as he plummeted toward the earth with no way to stop his descent. This tragic event was particularly surprising given McGuire’s extensive experience in skydiving. Officials speculated that he may have been tired or distracted, leading to the fatal oversight.
Skydiver Ivan McGuire was filming a parachuting lesson at 10,000 ft in the air. Excited to film, he grabbed his camera and jumped from the plane. Unfortunately though, he forgot his parachute. McGuire had made more than 800 successful jumps to his name before this fatal accident. pic.twitter.com/uXLGe33kZ5
— Morbid Knowledge (@Morbidful) December 16, 2023
FAA inspector Walter Rigsbee noted that regulations require the pilot to check parachutes before any jump, but this crucial step was somehow missed. Nancy Fayard, the wife of the parachute center’s owner, confirmed that no one was aware McGuire boarded the plane without a parachute, stating that if they had known, they would have stopped him.
The pilot, Mark Luman, was questioned during the investigation, which ruled out suicide and concluded that McGuire’s death was accidental. At the age of 35, McGuire’s body was found about a mile from the airfield where the plane took off, marking a tragic end to a routine skydiving lesson gone horribly wrong.
