The National Transportation Safety Board is helping to investigate the July 21 rappelling accident that killed firefighter Thomas Marovich, 20, of Hayward, California. The U. S. Forest Service also has an investigation team on site.
The San Francisco Chronicle is reporting that there was an equipment failure that resulted in the fatality:
Christy Marovich, 21, said her brother had been preparing to jump when their cousin, Stacie Juranitz, who is also a Forest Service firefighter and was onboard the helicopter, noticed that something was wrong with a metal snap on his harness. “It was not attached properly,” she said.
He got a new harness that was checked by “multiple people, including supervisors,” his sister said. But part of it “completely broke off” as he jumped out of the helicopter, she said.
“Something went terribly wrong, and he fell 200 feet,” she said.
The Eureka Times-Standard has some information provided by the Humboldt County Coroner:
Thomas Marovich of Hayward was killed immediately when he struck the bed of the Trinity River at Big Rock in Willow Creek, said Humboldt County Coroner Dave Parris. Failure to check a safety hook-up may be behind the accident, according to reports Parris said he’s received.
”The sense is that there was a safety overlook,” Parris said.
Marovich was given emergency life support at the scene, but was soon pronounced dead.
It will most likely be many months before the investigation teams complete their tasks and release the actual cause of the accident.
