From ITN youtube video description: Published on Jul 15, 2013
101 female skydivers have set a new record, as they leapt from planes to form the pattern of a flower in mid-air above the town of Kolomna in Russia.
The skydivers from the all-women Pearls of the Sky team dedicated the jump to former captain Irina Sinitsina, who died last year in a group skydiving stunt in California.
Sinitsina had led the team to breaking the previous Russian record of an 88-person flower pattern free fall in July 2012, and this time, the team left one space open in the centre of the formation to represent their "missing petal". Report by Sophie Foster.
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Outside Magazine
written by Daniel D. Snyder
Wednesday July 17, 2013
What you are about to watch is not a military drill. Rather, it is the Russian skydiving group, Pearls of the Sky, setting a new world record for all female teams with a 101-person flower formation.
The team dedicated the jump to their former captain, Irina Sinitsina, who died during a stunt in California last year. Sinitsina, a leading Russian skydiver, had successfully completed the stunt and was preparing to deploy her parachute when she collieded with another skydiver, becoming entangled in their main parachute. After disentangling herself, Sinitsina deployed her emergency chute just 400 feet from the ground. She struck her head on impact, placing her in a coma. She was flown back to Moscow, where she passed away.
For their record-breaking jump, the Pearls honored Sinitsina with an empty space in the center of their formation.
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The Press-Enterprise (PE.com)
written by Richard Brooks
September 25, 2012
A Russian woman remains unconscious and hospitalized on life-support equipment two days after she was hurt during world-record skydives in Perris, skydiving officials say.
Irina Sinitsina suffered severe head injuries as she landed her emergency parachute at 12:19 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 23, at Perris Valley Airport. Sinitsina is in her mid-30s and a resident of Moscow.
She was among 100 skydivers wearing bat-like “wing suits” who completed a 100-person diamond-shaped formation Saturday. That effort eclipsed the previous record of 68 skydivers and was witnessed by three judges representing the U.S. Parachute Association and the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.
Sunday’s accident happened toward the end of a jump involving 98 skydivers. The group had finished their freefall work and had glided away from each other to open their parachutes.
But roughly five seconds after opening their chutes, Sinitsina and a male skydiver collided, said Dan Brodsky-Chenfeld, manager of Perris Valley Skydiving.
“He is fine. He says (Sinitsina’s) foot brushed his head,” Brodsky-Chenfeld said. “That (initially) was the extent of it.”
But the parachute of the male skydiver, whose name has not been released, wrapped around Sinitsina’s body. So the male jumper jettisoned his deflated chute and landed safely beneath his emergency chute.
Sinitsina then faced a choice: She could land her fully inflated parachute, towing her companion’s deflated chute as if it were a banner, or she could jettison her main parachute and use her emergency chute.
She jettisoned her main parachute, and her emergency chute opened fully and properly, though turning, Brodsky-Chenfeld said. In the process, her companion’s discarded parachute floated away from her, Brodsky-Chenfeld said.
At that point, Sinitsina was no more than 400 feet above the ground. Her emergency chute made two complete turns and was leveling off when she landed, said Brodsky-Chenfeld, who witnessed the landing.
“It was coming down – and moving forward – a little faster than would be ideal for a landing,” he recalled. “But she had a parachute over her head. I was expecting her to be okay.”
Instead, her body pitched forward as she touched down, and she struck her head, Brodsky-Chenfeld said. She had no other injuries, he said.
Sinitsina has made thousands of jumps, including many that set Russian and world records, Brodsky-Chenfeld said.
“She is absolutely one of the … leading Russian skydivers,” he emphasized. “She is the primary organizer of the … Russian records.”
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