NRA Lawyer Dies in Skydiving Accident

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A conservative Delaware County mayor who worked on behalf of the National Rifle Association to challenge Philadelphia’s well-publicized attempts at local gun laws died in a skydiving accident Friday.

C. Scott Shields, 45, was killed around 4:30 p.m. when his main parachute did not deploy and his emergency chute failed.  He landed in the trees surrounding the Cross Keys airport in Gloucester County and was pronounced dead on arrival at Underwood Memorial Hospital in Woodbury, N.J.

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5 thoughts on “NRA Lawyer Dies in Skydiving Accident”

  1. You know, it seems that the emergency chutes fail a lot. I can’t think of too many fatal skydiving accidents where I don’t hear that happening.

    Every time I think about possibly hopping out of an airplane, I hear stuff like this and just think “ain’t worth it”

    1. It may not be as simple as “it failed.” From another article:

      The 45-year-old mayor of Rutledge fell to the ground without pulling the cord on his main or reserve parachutes. An automatic activation device eventually deployed the latter.

      “The automatic opener fires at about 750 feet — it’s your last chance,” said Mark Kruse, a skydiving instructor at Freefall Adventures in Williamstown, N.J. “His deployed, but it didn’t open all the way, which can happen if you are tumbling.”

      Kruse said skydivers can tumble when they are incapacitated.

      When we first read about it (but didn’t realize the NRA connection), they said they would be investigating possible reasons such as a heart attack or something. The initial autopsy results only point to injuries from the fall, so it’s unclear. But point being, it may not be as simple as a chute that failed, there may have been other issues at play.

  2. @Robb Allen: You’re experiencing selection bias. By definition you don’t hear about the deaths that happen when the emergency back up chute opens and works!

    It’s similar to how most defensive gun uses are never reported – no one was hurt other than a perp scared senseless.

    -Gene

  4. I’m terribly sorry to hear that. I’m afraid that if I jumped out of a plane the subsequent heart attack would kill me before I hit the ground, parachute or no parachute. I’m not afraid of heights, but I do get kind of sick during the fall-event.

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