all of my practice days you know, i was going to be able to do five jumps a day for five days and lead myself into this thing, auto i didn t get any of them. none. right now the conditions are ideal. finally, a break in the weather. corliss races to make much needed practice runs only one day before the event. [ applause ] wow! i do my first practice jump flying over it. i m looking down going like, oh, you know. i open and come into the landing area and slam in. a horrible landing. i mean, bad. and then all of a sudden it started dawning on me i spent the last year and a half getting better. so now i m going to get totally broken again and have to go through another six months of
parachutes failed working together to land safely. abc s linsey davis with this story. reporter: a frightening scene in the skies as two members of the british army s red devils stunt team seemed to collide midair. but look closer it s actually a rescue operation after one of the men s parachutes failed to open 2700 feet above the ground. we realized something s not quite right. reporter: watch as corporal mike french wraps his legs around the ropes of corporal wayne smallhouse. french s legs carrying the weight of smallhouse and his parachute as hundreds of spectators anxiously watch in fear. french tries to find the safest landing area. at last locking water to prepare for a safe landing. as soon as we knew we were in the predicament, the training kicks in.
correct decision in allowing that aircraft to land there. because that ask their responsibility. if the aircraft are not able to make a safe landing, then it s their responsibility to make them divert to another landing. to determine if the regulatory authority is what made the mistake that caused the accident. to me, what that says, is that aircraft don t just veer off the runway when they re landing in a safe environment. this is something obviously to do with the weather. what we looked at is whether or not that airport and that particular landing area was suitable for landing the aircraft. that s going to be a big decision and a hefty fine for someone if they find it was not ready for landing. i m going to talk about the weather and how quickly that can change as well. and whether that is something you can determine in a moment. maybe you can help me understand this. that is that aircraft veered to the water side.
now, you re not going to make it to your landing area. you have it open right now. my parachute opens with such force that it literally rips cameras off of my head. they go i watch them get launched like boom! oh! then i m like okay, grab a toggle. i turn, see my landing area, and oh, man, i am not going to make. come, come on, i grab my legs and impact boom! i remember laying there like i couldn t believe. it like i literally could not believe that i had gotten out of the helicopter, that i had flown through it, that i had gotten a good opening, had landed where i was supposed to land, and i was okay. the one remaining camera records his landing. yes! whoo! holy mother! [ bleep ] oh, my god! i made it! [ bleep ] i can t believe i did it! [ bleep ] cannot believe i did it!
leave the helicopter to fly through it anyways. so i m not going to be able to do a practice jump right now. all of my practice days you know, i was going to be able to do five jumps a day for five days and lead myself into this thing, auto i didn t get any of them. none. right now the conditions are ideal. finally, a break in the weather. corliss races to make much needed practice runs only one day before the event. [ applause ] wow! i do my first practice jump flying over it. i m looking down going like, oh, you know. i open and come into the landing area and slam in. a horrible landing. i mean, bad. and then all of a sudden it started dawning on me i spent the last year and a half getting better. so now i m going to get totally broken again and have to go through another six months of recovery if i m lucky. stunt day arrives with more bad weather. but the team get word within minutes of the deadline that the skies have cleared. it s time. you know, i didn t get t