CAA should rethink view on Whangarei skydiving accident

Builder Ross Borman is back on the job after five months waiting for injuries to repair.

High jinks on the day of a stag do aren't unusual.

But in Ross Borman's case the high jinks ended in a low flying skydive landing that knocked him out and left him with a series of painful injuries including three fractured vertebrae.

And yet the CAA is not interested in investigating the incident involving a tandem dive with Ballistic Blondes at Onerahi, Whangarei, because it has determined "probable cause" and there aren't "safety learnings".

All of which has been established without interviewing Mr Borman, who as the victim, probably has something to contribute to what happened.

The CAA does not investigate every accident in the aviation sector, unless there is a "safety learning" beneficial to the sector.

Even to a lay person, there seem to be "safety learnings" from this incident.

Mr Borman was wearing a dress - not his usual garb but on this occasion it was deemed appropriate as it was his stag do.

Mr Borman was dragged 30m, severally grazing his legs and buttocks. Surely there is a message here that skydivers should wear long pants or overalls given the opportunity for landings to go slightly awry.

Different clothing may have prevented or reduced his injuries, although it is hard to say whether clothing would have prevented his concussion and vertebrae being fractured.

But surely it is worth asking a few more questions to establish if anything could have.

And it is odd that no one has asked any questions of the person who was closer to the action than anyone else - Mr Borman.

There is inherent risk in doing something like a sky dive, or other adventure tourism activities.

And it is a sector that will only grow in Northland, as tourist numbers rise.

Which is why we need faith in bodies like the Civil Aviation Authority.

Most regulatory/watchdog bodies are keen to investigate the merest of incidents when it comes to health and safety. It shows how seriously they take things.

The CAA should rethink their approach to Mr Borman's accident - there might or might not be much to learn from the accident in relation to the victim and the skydiving company.

But CAA might learn a thing or two about how important it is for the public to have faith in regulatory bodies.

Because on this occasion, the public is raising a few eyebrows that a "stag" leaping out of a plane in a dress and breaking his back doesn't require an in-depth look.