A young man who died in a freak parachuting accident had been on a trip with his father to indulge their shared love for skydiving.
Liam Newman, who lives in Brisbane but was born in Taupo on New Zealand‘s North Island, died around 10am on Tuesday after a group jump ended in disaster at a rural property in Tarawera, western Queensland.
The 25-year-old was participating in a five-day skills camp at ‘Funny Farm’ with hundreds of other experienced skydivers and jumped from a plane shortly after 8am with four others.
His best friend, Cody Mason, told Daily Mail Australia that Mr Newman’s jump was going perfectly until the last 10 metres when he appeared to turn to his left and hit the ground hard.
Mr Newman’s father, legendary skydiver Brett, was on the jump directly behind him and tragically witnessed his son’s fatal fall.
After he landed, he rushed over to his son’s aid and was by his side when he took his last breath almost two hours later.
‘Liam is super experienced, he jumped out of the plane, and his parachute opened,’ Mr Mason told this publication.
‘It was all going well until the last 20-to-30ft when a freak accident happened with his parachute and he unfortunately hit the ground quite hard.
Liam Newman (pictured), who lives in Brisbane but was born in Taupo on New Zealand ‘s North island, died around 10am on Tuesday after a group jump ended in disaster at a rural property in Tarawera, north of Goondiwindi in western Queensland
The 25-year-old was participating in a five-day skills camp at ‘Funny Farm’ with hundreds of other experienced skydivers when he jumped from a plane shortly after 8am with four others. His father, legendary skydiver Brett, was tragically on the jump directly behind him (father and son are pictured together)
‘He was alive for two hours. They were working on him, and (was alive) when the helicopter got there, but he sadly passed away at 10am.’
Mr Mason said that Liam’s dad Brett used to be a tandem skydiving instructor and even helped investigate fatalities, before setting up his own skydiving gear and rigging company called Downward Trend.
‘Brett has done over 15,000 jumps. He’s loved in the skydiving community. He’s seen disasters before, but obviously not his own son,’ Mr Mason added.
‘He rushed over to his aid and was with him until the last minute.’
Mr Mason, who had known Liam since they were six years old, said the pair were in the process of selling a house they owned together.
Liam worked for his father’s company, in addition to his role as an instructor at the iFLY Brisbane Indoor Skydiving centre.
‘We are devastated at his passing and will be working in a limited capacity over the coming weeks while we work to prepare Liam the most amazing send off,’ Downward Trend wrote on Instagram.
‘We love you boy… you are forever in our hearts.’
A spokesperson for Australian Parachute Federation said Mr Newman had successfully landed more than 600 jumps over a two-year career in the sport
Mr Mason, who had known Liam since they were six years old, said the pair were in the process of selling a house they owned together (pictured: Liam and Cody together)
His father told Mr Mason his son ‘couldn’t have done anything more’.
‘He’s done every course you can think of. He’s been trained by the best guys in the world,’ he said.
Mr Mason paid tribute to his ‘awesome’ friend.
‘Once he had his mind set on something, he just wanted to be the best at it. He’d just do everything to the top,’ he said.
‘I have little son and he just loved him, buying him toys all the time, playing with him in the back yard. He loved everybody.’
iFLY Brisbane Indoor Skydiving, Mr Newman’s employer, said it was ‘incredibly saddened to hear that one of our staff members, Liam Newman, has had a fatal accident at a skydiving event in Western Queensland’.
‘He was a much-loved staff member of our team, and our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time.’
The Australian Parachute Federation (APF) is leading the investigation into Mr Newman’s death, supported by police, who have deemed it non-suspicious.
A spokesperson for APF said Mr Newman had successfully landed more than 600 jumps over two years.
‘The man attempted a group jump this morning at an organised, coached event for experienced skydivers,’ the spokesperson added.
‘It is understood the man’s parachute opened and functioned normally, but he landed badly and sustained multiple serious injuries.
‘Four other skydivers landed safely. First aid was administered and arrangements were made for him to be transported to hospital via helicopter, but sadly he did not survive his injuries and died at the scene.’
