Parachutist Dies in 'Hard Landing' At Ellington Airport

ELLINGTON, CT — Emergency crews responded to their second parachute incident in as many days on Sunday morning.

And it turned out to be fatal.

Tolland County 911 reported the latest call at Sunday morning when a parachutist had a "hard landing" at the drop zone at Ellington Airport.

The parachutist was "semi responsive" when emergency crews arrived, and Life Star helicopter was called to the scene, according to Tolland County 911.

There was no word on potential injuries.

On Saturday at about 1:30 p.m. firefighters and an ambulance crew responded to the area of Porter and Kibbe roads for a possible injured parachutist.

A 911 call indicated a parachutist may have landed without a deployed chute, according to the service.
It turned out that residents witnessed a cutaway falling from the sky, according to Tolland County 911.

Cutaway is a skydiving term that refers to the main parachute being disconnected from the harness in case of a malfunction to make way for the reserve parachute. The man killed was identified by state police as 62-year-old James Hansmann of Springfield. Ellington Airport is a hub is skydiving in the area.

Patch File Photo