Radio 'could have saved SAS man'

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A soldier who died on his first day of parachute training with the SAS may have been saved if he had been given a radio, an inquest has heard.

Capt Daniel Wright, 25, from Newport, south Wales, died in Oxfordshire, when his parachute failed to open.

Personnel on the ground were shouting to him to cut away his main chute but by the time he deployed his reserve it was too late, the inquest heard.

Capt Wright's mother has called on the army to learn from his death.

The inquest at Oxford coroner's court was shown video footage of the moment Capt Wright, of the Queen's Gurkha Signal Corps, jumped from the plane at 2,500 ft (762m).

Eye witnesses reported seeing Capt Wright trying to control his main parachute by using the steering lines during the jump on 17 November 2005, his first day of training with the SAS.

He opened his reserve chute at 200ft but disappeared at speed and hit the ground behind a line of trees at Weston on the Green, Oxon, the inquest heard.

It was his second jump.

If those people on the ground were able to speak to Capt Wright he may have deployed his reserve chute soon enough to save his life Andrew Walker, assistant deputy coroner for Oxfordshire

The officer in charge of the drop zone on the day gave evidence to the inquest from behind screens to protect his identity.

He was also referred to as Witness A.

When asked by assistant deputy coroner for Oxfordshire Andrew Walker whether he thought radios were necessary for those undergoing their first jumps he said: "In my opinion the use of radios would be advantageous for people to get instructions on how to control the parachute to the ground."

He explained there were some difficulties in using radios if there were a number of people in the air who could get confused to who messages are meant for.

He said training was geared towards soldiers having that "instinct reaction" themselves to cut away their chute if they got into trouble.

He said he was not sure radios would 100% stop these kind of scenarios.

Loudhailer

But when pushed, Witness A admitted it was likely that Capt Wright's life would have been saved by a radio.

He added that on the day of the tragedy a loudhailer had been in use on the ground but he could not remember whether it was used during Capt Wright's descent.

Mr Walker said the inquest would decide whether any actions could be taken to prevent any future fatalities.

"It seems to me one of the factors that comes out very strongly in this tragedy is if those people on the ground were able to speak to Capt Wright he may have deployed his reserve chute soon enough to save his life," he said.

An Army board has recommended improved emergency training and said trainees should have a bleeping warning device.

Speaking outside the inquest into her son's death on Monday, Capt Wright's mother Carol, said: "Issues of training and funding need to be put in the public domain by this inquest."