• News
  • Film and TV
  • Music
  • Tech
  • Features
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Weird
  • Community
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
Horrifying moment woman's parachute fails to open after jumping off El Capitan

Home> News> US News

Updated 20:24 24 Nov 2023 GMTPublished 20:21 24 Nov 2023 GMT

Horrifying moment woman's parachute fails to open after jumping off El Capitan

Jan Davis, 60, had been protesting against parachuting bans in Yosemite National Park when she was killed

Rhianna Benson

Rhianna Benson

Those readers suffering with acrophobia - an intense fear of extreme heights - might want to turn away now.

That's because the heart-wrenching footage of a woman throwing herself off California's El Capitan - unaware that her parachute would never open - has been trending on social media.

The historical and storytelling X account 'Time Capsule Tales' has re-shared the 1999 video of parachutist Jan Davis, telling the late thrill-seeker's story.

"In 1999, parachutist Jan Davis fell to her death at Yosemite's El Capitan after he parachute failed to open," the social media page captioned the video.

Advert

Davis was 60 when she fell to her death.
@timecaptales/Twitter

"She leaped from the top of 3,200-foot El Capitan in a protest organized in response to the death of a man who parachuted off the same peak and drowned in the river below while trying to flee rangers."

In the video, the 60-year-old Santa Barbara resident is seen standing on the edge of the widely-known vertical rock formation in Yosemite National Park.

As the caption explained, Davis protesting against a ban for such free jumps at the time.

She was the fourth of five jumpers in the protest, preparing for flight whilst being counted down by an assistant.

Davis can then be seen leaping off the cliff-edge, arms outstretched.

"She's got problems, man," the cameraman can be heard exclaiming as she is seen falling. "What the f**k?"

Davis had been parachuting off El Capitain.
Getty/Education Images

The camera then pans away, but reports from the 1999 scene explain that her parachute had failed to open as she fell 3,200 feet, and she had been killed upon impact.

Paul Sakuma, an Associated Press photographer who was there to see Davis plummet to her death, told the Los Angeles Times at the time: "The first three were beautiful.

"And then she jumped. Everybody thought it was OK, and then people said, ‘Open up! Open up!’".

The publication also claimed that Davis’ husband, photographer Tom Sanders, had been amongst the El Capitan spectators on that fateful day, and slumped onto his camera in grief after she fell.

Davis could be seen falling me in the footage.
@timecaptales/Twitter

Davis had jumped using borrowed gear, being that she didn't want her own equipment to be confiscated by park rangers, who had already made several arrests on jumpers due to the danger of the sport.

According to friends at the scene, as the LA Times reports, her husband Sanders had repeatedly told himself: "If only she had used her own gear. If she had only had her own gear."

Davis' jump - amongst the others that had occurred that day - was in protest against the criminalisation of jumping off the mighty mountain.

Just weeks prior, fellow parachutist Frank Gambalie III was almost captured by park rangers, and had tried to flee, before accidentally drowning in the Merced River.

Davis was one of the 150 people - including Gambalie's mother, and the four other parachutists - to protest in what was supposed to have been a carefully staged demonstration.

Featured Image Credit: Credit: @timecaptales/Twitter

Topics: Sport, US News, Crime

Rhianna Benson
Rhianna Benson

Rhianna is an Entertainment Journalist at LADbible Group, working across LADbible, UNILAD and Tyla. She has a Masters in News Journalism from the University of Salford and a Masters in Ancient History from the University of Edinburgh. She previously worked as a Celebrity Reporter for OK! and New Magazines, and as a TV Writer for Reach PLC.

X

@rhiannaBjourno

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

3 hours ago
4 hours ago
  • Family handout
    3 hours ago

    Family of man, 20, who allegedly died after being trapped when Tesla crashed reveal plan to sue

    Samuel Tremblett tragically died last October after allegedly becoming trapped in his car following a collison

    News
  • YouTube/Riseabovewithkevin
    3 hours ago

    Recovering alcoholic reveals the one specific behavior she noticed that helped her realize she had a problem

    Avery Schlereth recalled how there was one thing in particular that, once she thought about it, made her see there was an issue

    News
  • Slaven Vlasic/Getty
    3 hours ago

    3 Doors Down lead singer Brad Arnold dies aged 47 as band and family release statement

    Brad Arnold's family have since released a statement

    Celebrity
  • Getty Images/Mark Sagliocco
    4 hours ago

    Kim Kardashian makes rare comment on where her relationship with Kanye West stands now

    Kim has previously spoken out about her relationship with her ex-husband

    Celebrity
  • Bodycam footage shows moment child escapes ‘house of horror’ after years of abuse as three siblings speak out
  • Boy, 7, shot after gun accidentally goes off inside elementary school classroom
  • Serial killer changes plea after shocking new evidence is used 26 years later
  • Tyler Robinson's defense team want prosecutor thrown off Charlie Kirk case because their child was present at assassination