Jump Pilot Guilty Of Involuntary Manslaughter In Wingsuiter’s Decapitation

A French pilot received a one-year suspended sentence and was banned from flying for a year after being found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the decapitation death of a wingsuit flyer in 2018.

French media identified the pilot as 64-year-old Alain C. During the freak accident, the wing hit Nicolas Galy, 40, seconds after Galy jumped from the plane at an altitude of roughly 13,000 feet, Le Parisian reported. According to the French newspaper, no communications on the flight paths of the aircraft or the jumpers were discussed between the pilot and Galy. 

Alain called the situation a "tragedy" but noted that Galy “did not follow the expected course and should never have been on that course.”

In court proceedings, it was disclosed Alain has been flying with an invalid license due to a medical condition. The outlet reported that the skydiving school the pilot worked for, Midi-Pyrénées Skydiving School Association, was fined 20,000 euros but that half that amount was suspended. Court was told the company has since updated its procedures and briefings are now mandatory.