On 2 October 2026, shortly before half past nine in the morning, a parachutist fell onto a meadow between the municipalities of Klatovy and Točník, near the Klatovy airfield.[2] He was a fifty-one-year-old man, according to available information an experienced sport parachutist, who, according to the server Novinky.cz, was to take part in a commercial jump operated by a firm based at the Klatovy airfield.[1] According to Plzeňská Drbna, he is believed to be a foreign national.[3]*

Rescuers' response

All rescue services, including an air ambulance helicopter, went to the scene.[3] Paramedics performed advanced cardiopulmonary resuscitation on site, but the man succumbed to his injuries and a physician pronounced him dead.[1][3] The spokesman of the regional ambulance service, Martin Štěpán, said that despite every effort the patient's vital functions could not be restored.[1][3]

Investigation

The circumstances of the accident are being investigated by Klatovy criminal police, as police spokesman Michal Schön stated. The case is also being dealt with by inspectors of the Ústav pro odborné zjišťování leteckých nehod. According to the institute's deputy director Josef Bejdák, a problem probably occurred with the lines of the main parachute during the jump, as a result of which the parachutist went into an uncontrolled spin and fell rapidly to the ground without activating the reserve parachute.[1]

Context

The Klatovy airfield is popular among parachutists and foreign visitors also jump there.[3] According to Plzeňská Drbna, this was not the first similar accident near the airfield in 2026 – in mid-May a thirty-four-year-old man died there during a jump over a water surface, whom witnesses were unable to resuscitate despite a quick intervention.[3]

Chronology

  • — A parachutist fell near Klatovy, close to the local airfield. Novinky.cz iDNES.cz

Sources

  1. Novinky.cz — 2 October 2026
  2. iDNES.cz — 2 October 2026
  3. Plzeňská Drbna — 2 October 2026