[mffjm8509]

This came as a shock to me today. Many of you will recognize his name. Tony was one of my instructors in the basic MFF course and we jumped together later when he returned to 10th Group. Always willing to help and teach. Always a professional.

RIP. mp



Experienced skydiver from Springs dies in fall

By ANSLEE WILLETT THE GAZETTE



A Colorado Springs man described as an expert skydiver died Sunday near Cañon City after his parachute didn’t fully open late in his fall, authorities said Monday.

Anthony Repasky, 40, jumped with seven other people with Skydive the Rockies at the Fremont County Airport off U.S. Highway 50. He landed at the west end of the runway, where he died about 11 a.m.

An autopsy Monday showed he had internal injuries, including broken ribs and lacerated organs, Fremont County Coroner Dorothy Twellman said. There was no evidence a medical problem prevented him from opening his parachute sooner.

Repasky had made thousands of dives, Twellman said.

“Nobody knows why he didn’t open his chute when he should have,” she said. “He taught freefalling in the military and was the safety instructor for this group.”

A member of Skydive the Rockies, where Repasky worked, declined comment. The business is based at the airport.

“He was an expert skydiver, a pro skydiver,” Repasky’s oldest son, 20-year-old Jack, said from his father’s home. “He’s been skydiving ever since I could remember, ever since I could walk.”

Repasky also had a 16-year-old son and a daughter, 17.

Twellman gave this account of the jump:

Repasky and seven others jumped at about 12,000 feet before making a formation. A married couple wanted to kiss in the middle of the formation, and as the safety instructor, it was Repasky’s call on whether to allow it.

“When they were in the process of going to do that, he shook his head no,” Twellman said. “He felt the formation wasn’t stable enough.”

They freefell to about 4,500 feet before separating to open their parachutes at about 3,500 feet.

A woman near Repasky noticed at about 2,300 feet, when her parachute was fully open, that Repasky was still freefalling below her.

“She did see him reach behind himself and pull his main chute to open,” Twellman said. “It opened with a little bit of flapping on the left side, but it didn’t completely open. But it should have been enough to slow him down.”

An automatic device can open a skydiver’s reserve parachute at about 750 feet if he doesn’t open it beforehand. The automatic device opened Repasky’s reserve fully.

“He always told them at 1,000 feet you should pull your reserve — don’t wait for the automatic,” Twellman said. “You have five or six seconds before you hit the ground.”

Repasky died on impact, she said.

About 350,000 jumps are made each year nationwide, according to the United States Parachute Association. In 2004, 21 people died from parachuting incidents, compared with 25 the year before.

A skydiver died in 2004 after jumping at the Fremont County Airport, said Allen Kenitzer, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration. The skydiver was at fault, he said.

“The individual jumped and made a steep turn,” he said. “When (the skydiver) turned downwind, the chute collapsed.”

FAA officials began their investigation Monday into Repasky’s death. It’s expected to take several weeks.