Carlos Gabriel Obaid Haddad died in a sky diving accident at Aoraki / Mount Cook. Photo / via LinkedIn
Police have named the man who died after a skydiving accident near Aoraki Mount Cook.
He was 43-year-old Carlos Gabriel Obaid Haddad.
The accident happened last Tuesday during a routine jump over Lake Pukaki.
Haddad was employed as a camera “flyer”, a photographer, for Skydive Mt Cook.
A friend of Haddad’s said he died in a “good way”, describing the thrill-seeking reality of skydiving: “We accept it under our own law, that we can f*** it up with a minimum mistake”.
Skydive Mt Cook told the Herald he had died on Sunday after being critically injured in last Tuesday’s accident.
Police today confirmed he died in hospital and said they were making inquiries on behalf of the coroner.
The Herald understands hospital staff kept Haddad on life support until his family arrived from overseas.
A police spokesman said the Civil Aviation Authority had been notified.
Javier Andres Rojas Sepulveda, a recent friend of Haddad’s, wrote on social media: “I wish for you to remember him how he was; a happy person, loyal, adventurous. He is one of those guys [who] is always smiling, and it can’t help but make you smile too.
“I want you to see and understand that he is going in a good way, happy,” Sepúlveda said.
“We kept him confident and calm in his last conscious moments and he knew the love that each one of you has for him. Now, the only thing to do is to send positive thinking, messages and good vibes to make him go calmly… he is not going to continue here.”
Skydive Mt Cook yesterday said it was “devastated by the loss of our treasured colleague, and our thoughts are with his family during this time.”
The company said it was confident in its “robust systems” and initial investigations had ruled out any equipment failures.
“However, whilst this investigation is still open, we will continue to work with local authorities and will be unable to make any further comments at this time.”
Last week, the company told the Herald the employee was not jumping in tandem with any customers or passengers at the time of the incident and was completing a “routine jump.
“We are cooperating with local authorities who were immediately notified and are investigating the situation further,” a company spokesperson said.
“We are currently in communication with the affected team member’s family,” they said at the time.
Police said they were making inquiries after being made aware of a male in a critical condition at Christchurch Hospital.
St John Ambulance confirmed to Stuff it sent an ambulance and helicopter to Swallow Drive in Pukaki at 5.56pm on October 17.
Skydive Mount Cook’s website says it trains photographers to jump out with skydivers to capture thrill-seekers thousands of metres in the air.
“They hang outside of the plane, waiting for the moment you dive, then impressively control their movements to join up with you and film the very best perspectives,” the website describes.
In a separate fatality, Theo Williams, 21, died in March 2021 while operating a camera during a commercial skydive jump in Tauranga.
He had just qualified with a diploma in commercial skydiving from the New Zealand Skydiving School and completed three months’ work experience at Skydive Tauranga when the accident happened.
A Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) investigation found the “most likely cause of the accident was judgment error by the skydiver when close to the ground”.
At the time, Williams was one of three skydivers to die in accidents within as many years.
A Herald on Sunday investigation revealed all three fatalities involved recent graduates from the New Zealand Skydiving School, and two occurred during jumps with sister company Skydive Auckland.
Irish national Jack Creane, 27, died in March 2019 after a hard landing during a Skydive Auckland jump. He had recently graduated from the school’s six-month live-in course.
Williams died in March 2021, about three months after completing his studies at Parakai. He’d saved $20,000 to pursue the diploma.
Sarah-Jane Bayram, 43, was blown out to sea to her death following a midair collision during a Muriwai Beach sunset jump with Skydive Auckland in March 2022.
The young man involved in the collision had recently graduated from the Parakai school.
Prior to the three deaths, there had been no solo parachuting fatalities in New Zealand since 2012.
Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the Herald as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.
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