A parachute that was filmed plummeting to the ground over Wollongong on Monday did not have a person attached, operators of a skydiving company have confirmed.
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Amateur footage captured just south of Wollongong train station shows the chute’s descent.
The cameraman believes he is witnessing a disaster as he films.
“He’s gonna f---ing hit Wollongong ... His chute hasn’t opened,” he says.
“Pretty f---ing sketchy, he’s coming down pretty f---cking hard … Holy f-ck … on the railway line too.”
The parachute was jettisoned shortly before a reserve was deployed during a tandem skydive over North Wollongong about 3pm.
A spokesman for Skydive the Beach said no one was hurt.
“The customer landed safely, on target and without incident,” the spokesman said.
“The parachute was cut by the experienced instructor for operational reasons.”
In skydiving, the main parachute is jettisoned when there is a risk it has malfunctioned, allowing the reserve to deploy without an entanglement. The act is called a cutaway.
Concerned onlookers summon Wollongong emergency services to cases of this several times a year.
