Parachute jumper dies after cutting cords

POLICE are investigating the death of a man who cut the lines of his parachute after jumping from an aircraft.

David Crowcroft, 27, from north London, was said to be behaving normally before the 3,500ft jump from a light aircraft that had taken off from Old Buckenham Airfield, near Attleborough in Norfolk.

However, it was understood that as soon as his parachute opened he took off his helmet, which had a built-in radio to speak to his instructor on the ground, and threw it away.

The Times reported yesterday that Mr Crowcroft then used a pair of gardening scissors to cut the cords on his parachute.

He landed near the airfield and was pronounced dead at the scene on Saturday afternoon.

Police are not treating the death as suspicious.

The man was said to have paid £175 (€253) for a beginner’s course at the British Parachute Services training centre, based at the airfield.

Chief instructor Jason Thompson told The Times: “There was nothing to indicate he had any problems at all. I didn’t have any part in his training, but apparently he was just a normal sort of student.

“If we had been unhappy with his mental state we would not have allowed him to go up.

“People on the ground were aware of the situation as he was doing it, but there was nothing they could do.”

A Norfolk Police spokesman said that Mr Crowcroft’s next of kin had been informed.