In the end, ABC reached Daniel Pharr (thanks to his commanding officer) and promised to tell the story tastefully. I’ve learned that adding comments to any negative skydiving story only helps keep it in the media for longer, and so I declined. The media had their narrative and they were going to run with it. I didn’t think that participating would bring about anything more positive for Chip, the sport, or our business. I received calls from CBS, NBC, and ABC with offers to come to New York and talk about what happened. This story hadn’t gone viral – it had gone global.īy midweek, the major networks in New York were jockeying for exclusivity to interview Daniel Pharr and to have him share his story.
The tragedy at our small dropzone located at a tiny airport in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere South Carolina was being talked about by news agencies from around the planet within 36 hours of Chip’s passing.
#Dropzone springs tv#
tv cameraīy Monday afternoon Google Alerts highlighted Skydive Carolina being mentioned in New Zealand, Australia, India, the Philippines, Japan, countries throughout Europe, and countless others. Calls were coming in from the major networks in New York asking for comment and looking for information to speak with the now famous Daniel Pharr, the heroic tandem student. By the time I awoke on Monday morning, the Google Alerts referencing our dropzone (Skydive Carolina) were pinging my inbox from every state in the country. By mid-morning on Sunday, media trucks from Charlotte had started to arrive seeking an interview. The first call from the media came into the dropzone on Saturday afternoon at 4:30pm. The media didn’t eat this up – they gobbled it with a ravenous appetite that I couldn’t have imagined. I didn’t have time to grieve, because I was now in business mode to try and protect our brand from the media who I knew would eat this story up because the details were sensational which meant attention by the general public which ultimately equates to advertising dollars. Usually, the media listens to police scanners in the area, but being that we made a phone call, I hadn’t anticipated that the media would be tipped off quite so quickly. I couldn’t believe that the story was already out there especially as we hadn’t contacted emergency responders. Within an hour of calling the county coroner, the DZ received its first inquiry about the incident. After about 30 seconds of silence, Pharr could tell something was off and quickly realized that his tandem instructor was no longer responsive. As it turns out, Chip had a heart attack and immediately passed away. Pharr said, “It’s surprising how quiet it is”, to which Chip replied, “Welcome to my world.” Pharr would go on to make a few more comments about the experience to which Chip never replied.
#Dropzone springs free#
The free fall was uneventful and after a safe deployment the two chatted as Steele adjusted the harness. Pharr would eventually recount his story to us and later, the entire world on ABC’s Good Morning America with Robin Roberts. He was deceased and the three of us stood there in shock not quite knowing what to do next. Our tandem instructor and friend, Chip Steele lay peacefully on the ground in his black Strong Enterprises jumpsuit. My DZO Danny Smith and the tandem passenger named Daniel Pharr (I’ve never forgotten his name) stood in silence. What I arrived to was a moment I’ll never forget. Then the call over the radio: “Coach, you may want to come down here.” It seemed like a strange request, so I hopped in my burnt orange Honda Element and wasted no time driving to the corner of the airport about a mile away. At about 600 feet, the tandem slowly started turning right towards the apron of the runway where it eventually put down.Īs I began to walk back to the hangar, I felt gratified having had a busy day despite the cold. I radioed my DZO that we were going to have an off landing and he should give chase in the DZ van. It was strange as the spot was good and the other four tandems on the load had landed near the peas. On a cold, blue sky day in 2009, I looked towards the northwest corner of the dropzone and could see the last of five tandems flying without any discernible pattern away from the airport.