- Alain C. beheaded paratrooper Nicolas Galy after jumping from his plane
- The wing of the plane hit Galy’s head and took it off
- He was banned from flying and was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter
A French pilot has been banned from flying after decapitating a parachutist with the wing of his plane as he jumped out.
Nicolas Galy, 40, was one of ten parachutists on board the flight and one of two passengers who jumped from the plane above Bouloc-en-Quercy, near Toulouse, at an altitude of about 4,000 meters, in 2018, wearing a tight wingsuit.
But his thrilling flight ended in tragedy after just 20 seconds when he collided with the plane’s wing, ripping his head from his shoulders and killing him instantly.
The pilot, named in French media only as 64-year-old Alain C., was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter by the Montauban criminal court on Tuesday and given a suspended sentence.
The Midi-Pyrénées Skydiving School Association, for which Alain worked, was fined 20,000 euros. French media reported that half of that fine had been suspended.
Nicolas Galy, 40, dived from the plane at about 4,000 meters, wearing a sleek wingsuit – a full-body device that allows the wearer to glide like a bird (stock image)
Alain previously told the court the incident was “the tragedy of my life” but insisted he had done nothing wrong and accused Galy of deviating from his escape plan, claiming he had acted recklessly and suffered the consequences .
Le Parisien reported that there had been no consultation about the flight path the plane would follow after the jump.
Despite this, the pilot said he thought he was well clear of the wingsuiters before beginning his descent, but admitted they “don’t descend much and could come into conflict with the aircraft.”
However, he insisted that Galy, an experienced parachutist with 226 jumps, “did not follow the expected course and should never have followed that course.”
“He was parallel to the plane… It wasn’t my responsibility, I think my flight path was logical,” Alain told the court in comments carried by The Times.
“This has been the tragedy of my life, but it’s not my fault.”
It also turned out in court that Alain had piloted the plane with an invalid driver’s license.
The French aviation authority had restricted his flying rights due to a medical condition, but he took to the air anyway.
A lawyer for the victim’s relatives, Emmanuelle Franck, condemned the pilot as having “a lot of recklessness or negligence.”