Skydiving instructor Douglas Ball in critical condition at Princess Alexandra Hospital
He is a widely known and respected member of Australia’s skydiving community. Now he is fighting for life at Brisbane’s Princess Alexandra Hospital after a horror landing in North Queensland.
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Skydiver Douglas Ball has been confirmed as the man who suffered critical injuries in a hard landing in North Queensland at the weekend.
Mr Ball, 52, is a highly experienced skydiver and it is understood he works as a tandem instructor with 1300 Skydive Australia, a company with branches across the country, including Airlie Beach Skydivers.
Mr Ball suffered a hard landing at Laguna Quays south of Airlie Beach in the Mackay region just before midday on April 16.
Laguna Quays is listed as the regular drop zone for Airlie Beach Skydivers
The company has been contacted for comment but did not respond by time of publication.
A RACQ CQ Rescue helicopter crew flew Mr Ball to Mackay Base Hospital for urgent treatment, touching down at MBH about 2.10pm Sunday, where he was met by doctors on the helipad.
Mr Ball was flown from the Intensive Care Unit at Mackay Base Hospital to Brisbane’s Princess Alexandra Hospital at 11.45pm Monday night.
The Princess Alexandra Hospital confirmed he was in a critical but stable condition in the Intensive Care Unit.
It is understood Mr Ball has connections to the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and regional NSW.
The Australian Parachute Federation is investigating the cause of the horror accident.
APF CEO Richard McCooey said equipment failure was not at issue.
“This particular case, it appears the parachute opened normally at 3000 feet, the descent was all normal, there was nothing wrong at all,” he said.
“It appears in that final bit of the landing, that something has gone wrong.
“It is almost definitely not an equipment failure.
“The same with an aeroplane, if you land a plane downwind or crosswind, you can then get all tangled up with wind pushing as you are meant to be touching down so we are looking at the fact he may have either not being correctly into wind, or the steering of the parachute is with two toggles, two handles above your head, so there is a possibility his hand may have slipped out of that handle at the last minute.
“Again not confirmed but those are all the things we start looking at.”
Mr McCooey confirmed that even experienced jumpers could experience hard landings.
“The most experienced Qantas captain will have a bad landing,” he said.
“With a plane, you have got engines to help you out.
“We can’t do that, we have got to get it right on the first go.”
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Originally published as Skydiving instructor Douglas Ball in critical condition at Princess Alexandra Hospital
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