THE Sergeant Major of the British Army’s Red Devils parachute display team plummeted to his death when his gear became entangled with a fellow jumper in mid-air.
Sergeant Dean Walton plunged more than 3,500ft during the training jump accident in Spain in 2022 due to misadventure, Winchester Coroner’s Court heard.
The 36-year-old from Gosport, collided with Nirmal Purja mid-air during the exercise and was sent spiralling to the ground.
And despite the tireless efforts of on hand emergency staff, Dean was pronounced dead at the scene after suffering “catastrophic injuries”.
GoPro footage captured by the Afghanistan vet showed him jumping from the plane and descending on Mr Purja, who had also activated his parachute, before he became entangled and crash landed.
Mr Purja, a Nepalese mountaineer and Special Boat Service veteran, “cut away” and activated his reserve parachute, the inquest heard.
Coroner Jason Pegg said: “I’m going to record that Dean suffered catastrophic injuries, because they clearly were, when Dean struck the ground after his parachute canopy collapsed during an attempt to form a canopy stacking manoeuvre, causing Dean to become entangled in parachute lines from which he couldn’t free himself.
“I’m going to record that the attempted canopy stacking manoeuvre was not planned, which contributed to the death.”
Recording a conclusion of misadventure, he added: “When Dean went to step on Nirmal Purja’s canopy, he did intend to do so.”
He said this had the “unintended consequence of his parachute collapsing” and Dean falling to his death.
Mr Pegg continued: “Mr Purja has told me that there was a possible plan that Dean would become engaged in a business venture in terms of people parachuting within the Himalayas and, no doubt, elsewhere around the globe.
“It’s quite clear to me, from what Mr Purja has told me, that Dean… was able to give clear instructions and directions before parachute jumps they took part in whilst in Spain.
“It also seems to me that it’s more likely than not that, drawing upon Dean’s experience, his background, there would have been a plan of sorts.”
Mr Purja said the plan was a “freefall basic jump, freefall drills” before they would “cut away for a deployment of canopies and landing”, the coroner added.
Mr Walton and Mr Purja, who had first met a week before the incident, had been doing 12 to 14 jumps to practice these skills, the inquest heard.
Walton had a “high performance parachute” while Mr Purja had a regular parachute, the coroner said.
He added: “The impact of that is the parachute used by Dean travelled far swifter, it would be out of sync approaching Mr Purja’s parachute.”
Reflecting on Mr Walton’s GoPro footage played in court, he said: “He does approach the canopy, under which is Nirmal Purja.
“Dean does land on the right-hand side of that canopy and when he did so it would be necessary for Dean to pull on those lines to break.
“When Dean’s canopy collapsed he fell into the canopy of Nirmal Purja, which equally collapsed, and this occurred, it seems to be at around 3,000 feet.”
The inquest heard evidence from parachute instructor Victor Grande, who arrived at the scene soon after the fatal incident.
“Mr Grande told us that it’s customary, usual practice for those engaging in parachuting, for the lowest to person to cut away first (in the event of such an incident),” the coroner said.
“The footage does demonstrate that Nirmal Purja did cut away.
“One of the big issues in this case is how Dean came to be on Nirmal Purja’s parachute.
“The footage shows Dean gradually, carefully and under control approaching the canopy of Nirmal Purja.
“Dean does step on to the canopy, at which point the canopy collapses.
“Nirmal Purja, I have found to be a very credible witness. It does seem to me it’s more likely than not it was not the plan for Dean to land on top of Nirmal Purja’s canopy.
“And when Dean attempted that it had the consequences of his parachute collapsing and him suddenly plummeting to his death.
Mr Purja gave evidence in person at the inquest on Tuesday and said the “brutal reality” was Mr Walton “did endanger my life” by descending upon his parachute.
“I could have also died,” he said.
He added: “He probably wanted to show off and stand on top of my canopy.”
Mr Purja said there had been no plan to do a “canopy stacking drill” during the jump, that Mr Walton had not said anything about going on top of his parachute.
“He stood on top of my canopy and the accident only happened when the canopy collapsed,” he said.
On why he did not steer away as Mr Walton approached, Mr Purja added: “I saw him coming in a very controlled manner towards me, at that point I didn’t know what his intention was, he might be coming close to say something because when you are experienced you are comfortable coming that close.”
The inquest also heard evidence via video link from Mr Grande, who said: “When I arrived to the scene of the accident there was several people around Mr Dean, including Mr Nirmal, who was on his knees crying – but there was no emergency services yet.”
According to his LinkedIn Profile, Sergeant Walton has been an esteemed member of the regiment’s world-famous parachute display team for 17 years.
He regularly performed at events across the country “co-ordinating the activities of a large team of highly skilled military parachute demonstrators.”
It included a spectacle when he led his colleagues on a performance to mark England reaching the final of the Euro 2020 women’s football championships.
