A heroic SAS soldier died after crashing into a pond while representing Great Britain at a global skydiving competition.
Staff Sergeant Chris Good, 52, passed away on September 25, 2024, when he misjudged his parachute landing in Pretoria, South Africa.
The husband hit the edge of a 'swoop pond', an inquest in Hereford heard this week, and suffered injuries which ultimately took his life.
Good had completed thousands of skydives having joined the army's parachute regiment aged just 17, but a lack of landing experience at the Pretoria site some 4,000ft above sea level was ruled to have caused the accident.
Jeff Montgomery from British Skydiving said: 'Altitude above sea level has a big effect on how high-performance parachutes fly.
'The higher you go, the thinner the air becomes. Thin air provides less drag and less lift which changes how a parachute behaves from deployment all the way to landing.
'Video shows a high-speed descent of the parachute and appears to have an aggressive and steep dive towards the ground which can lead to a longer recovering arc as the parachute remains in the dive for longer.
'This is not an uncommon factor at locations with high altitude.'
Staff Sargent Chris Good, 52, passed away on September 25, 2024, when he misjudged his parachute landing in Pretoria, South Africa
The husband hit the edge of a 'swoop pond', an inquest in Hereford heard this week, suffering injuries which ultimately took his life
Good (pictured far left) served with the top secret SAS E Squadron during his time as a soldier and was deployed in both Iraq and Afghanistan
Good served with the top secret SAS E Squadron during his time as a soldier and was deployed in both Iraq and Afghanistan.
His wife, Sally Carvalho, told the hearing this week that parachuting was his 'first love'.
'He brought a lot of joy to a lot of people,' she said. 'He used to be a tandem instructor and people didn't ever land without a smile on their face.
'He was a safety guy and he would not take unnecessary risks. It wasn't his type.'
British Skydiving paid tribute with a touching post on Facebook after Good's passing nearly two years ago.
It read: 'Chris was representing Team Great Britain at the 10th World Canopy Piloting Championships. He was a cherished member of the team and an exceptionally skilled skydiver. His loss will be deeply felt within our sport.
'Our heartfelt condolences go out to Chris’s family and friends during this difficult period.'
