This is the terrifying moment a skydiver was sent into an out-of-control ‘death spin’ after jumping out of a plane over 10,000ft in the air.
Tegan Van Zyl, 27, a chemical engineer from Durban, South Africa, was taking part in a skydive when a bad exit from the plane at around 13,000 feet sent him spiraling to the ground.
He had to struggle to untie his lines as they were tangled during the horror spin – but he eventually fought back the urge to faint, freed himself and landed safely.
Tegan said: ‘I had a bad exit, lost control and went into a really bad spin.
Tegan Van Zyl, 27, a chemical engineer from Durban, South Africa, was taking part in a skydive when a bad exit from the plane at around 13,000 feet sent him spiraling to the ground
Tegan explained: ‘I had a bad exit, lost control and went into a really bad spin. I had really bad line twists on my parachute because I deployed in the spin, I had to fight my way out of them’
And despite all of his experience – having completed over 700 skydives – Tegan was unable to stop himself spinning and was even close to fainting when he decided to open his shoot
‘I had really bad line twists on my parachute because I deployed in the spin, I had to fight my way out of them.
‘Just after my parachute opened it took me a while to recover and compose myself before beginning to fight the line twists.
Despite all of his experience – having completed over 700 skydives – Tegan was unable to stop himself spinning and was close to fainting when he decided to open his shoot.
Tegan went on: ‘Just after my parachute opened it took me a while to recover and compose myself before beginning to fight the line twists’
He had to struggle to untie his lines as they were tangled during the horror spin – but he eventually fought back the urge to faint, freed himself and landed safely. Pictured: Tegan on dives
He explained: ‘I wasn’t able to get out of spin even after trying everything that I was taught, I decided to deploy my parachute when I started to black out’
The chemical engineer, who ultimately freed himself from the life-threatening tangle, maintained his sense of humour after escaping death. He said: ‘When I landed I was completely exhausted and in need of a beer’
Tegan said he can remember thinking to himself while in the middle of his horror spin, ‘How did I get myself into this mess?’. He ultimately survived by keeping his cool and pushing back the urge to faint
He said: ‘I wasn’t able to get out of the spin even after trying everything that I was taught. I decided to deploy my parachute when I started to black out.
‘There was no time to be scared during the ordeal – I was in complete survival mode.
‘I do remember thinking to myself mid-spin, “how did I get myself into this mess?”.
Tegan explained his ordeal: ‘I wasn’t able to get out of spin even after trying everything that I was taught, I decided to deploy my parachute when I started to black out. There was no time to be scared during the ordeal – I was in complete survival mode’
In the shocking video, Tegan’s camera spins around with his body while he is trapped in the death spiral
‘You have to make all the right decisions. Not much time to think of anything else.
‘It’s like time slows down and it felt like the spinning lasted forever.
‘When I landed I was completely exhausted and in need of a beer.’