Mayor’s parachute jump aborted, rescheduled
Pittsburg Mayor Shawn Kennington had spent weeks preparing to face the one thing he’d avoided his entire life.
His fear of flying kept him squarely on the ground for the most part, but he had never intended to jump out of an airplane. Then, calls for him to take the plunge in a tandem jump for the Parachute Bingo contest at the Independence Day Blast won out.
He’d agreed to jump in a tandem jump with 22-year veteran Lee Todd if all the tickets sold, but even though they didn’t sell out, he donned the jumpsuit and strapped on his parachute with the guys from Skydive East Texas from Gladewater right on schedule as the crowds poured in for the festivities, the flyover, and the fireworks.
But, the weather would have none of it, unfortunately.
“July 4 rolled around, and we were all set to jump, arch training complete, practiced how we would jump out of the plane,” Kennington told the Gazette.
“July 4 rolled around, and we were all set to jump.”
The goal was to jump from 10,000 feet with the lowest altitude for tandem skydiving at 7,500 feet.
“All aboard the plane were excited about getting to 10,000 feet and doing a full, complete jump. Well, maybe everybody is an exaggeration, but all seasoned jumpers were pumped,” the mayor said.
The pilot reached the planned altitude, but after circling for several minutes discovered that the clouds were in the way jumping unless they dropped below the clouds, which would have been too low for the tandem jump.
“Tandem can’t take place once it gets dark and we were running out of time, and the show must go on with or without me,” Kennington said. “So, to lower altitudes, we go for the other three to do solo jumps to find a winner for the Parachute Bingo.”
Change of plans
Kennington said, at first, the last-minute change was OK in his mind, relief calming his nerves over this first – and only -- parachute jump.
“Then they handed me a strap to run through my harness to buckle me to the floor while they open the door to the plane to jump. Now, when I say harness, that means harness without a parachute, so now I’m thinking, ‘Here I am on this plane without a parachute, and they are about to open this door. I better hang on for dear life, so I don’t get sucked out and end up who knows where,’” he said.
When he had time later to research that situation, he had nothing to fear.
“But, there was no time for research right then, so I could only rely on stories I had heard. The door opens, and they exit the plane leaving me and the pilot, who has a parachute, by the way,” Kennington continued. “Once they were out, the pilot tilts the plane a little, so the door comes down, and he reached over to secure the door and asked, ‘Are you still back there?’ I have no idea where else he thought I might be, but I politely answered, ‘Uh huh.’”
As the skydivers were completing their mission, the pilot flew the mayor back to Mount Pleasant Regional Airport, where his wife, Amy, picked him up and they headed back to enjoy the fireworks.
But, the story of the mayor’s brush with flying fame doesn’t end there.
“The skydiving team was bummed that I didn’t get to jump, so they said as soon as weather permits, they want me to join them to complete the jump,” he said. “I first said, ‘We will see,’ but then decided everybody wanted to see me scared to death, so I will make sure they get to see it.”
So, Skydive East Texas plans to video the jump from all angles and different cameras “so it can be shared for everyone’s enjoyment.”
Jumping for Danny
Kennington had planned to dedicate his jump to his friend and business partner Danny Gary, who recently lost his battle with ALS and he will continue that quest with this second planned jump.
“I told Danny what my plans were a couple of weeks before he passed away and he gave me a big thumbs up and smiled from ear to ear,” he said. “So, this jump is two-part in that I’m fulfilling what I planned to do for July 4 and I want to do this in honor of a friend.”
The rescheduled jump is tentatively planned for July 21.