Before departure for the positioning flight, the pilot was told that an observer/passenger would be
joining him for the flight. The airplane, which was typically used in skydiving operations, had its right
cabin door removed, and a fabric roll-up jump door had been installed; it was not closed during the
flight. The pilot reported that the passenger sat behind him on the right side of the airplane and that he
heard him attach his seatbelt. During the flight, the passenger moved forward in the cabin, which
resulted in the passenger’s reserve parachute inadvertently deploying and the passenger being pulled
through the open jump door. The passenger hit the doorframe, and the parachute became entangled with
the empennage, which resulted in a loss of airplane control and a subsequent aerodynamic stall. The
parachute eventually separated from the empennage, and the pilot was able to regain control of the
airplane and land it without further incident. A postaccident examination revealed that the passenger had
inadvertently attached his seatbelt to the handle that released the reserve parachute. Therefore, the
reserve parachute deployed when the passenger moved. The pilot did not conduct a safety briefing
before the flight; however, the improper routing of the seatbelt may not have been identified even if he
had conducted a safety briefing. Additionally, if the jump door had been closed, it is likely that the
passenger would not have been pulled out of the airplane.
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