Mass. Firefighters Respond to Skydiving Mishap

DUNSTABLE, Mass. -- Three skydivers were taken to area hospitals to be treated for minor injuries after a dozen jumpers were blown off course by sudden high winds as they parachuted above Skydive Pepperell Saturday afternoon.

Dunstable Fire Chief Brian Rich said firefighters were called at 5:06 p.m. to two locations along River Road in Dunstable, just across the Nashua River and the town line from the private Skydive Pepperell airport.

He said one person was found in a cornfield, while two others were found in a wooded area nearby. Rich said none of the three required rescue by firefighters.

Skydive Pepperell owner Fran Strimenos said 17 skydivers leapt from a plane yesterday a little before 5 p.m., and that a gust of wind caused 12 of the jumpers to land outside the airport's roughly 60-acre property.

Strimenos said five of the jumpers were still able to land at the airport, despite the winds.

"We had some high winds come up unexpectedly, and they landed across the river," Strimenos said. "Three of them went to the hospital to get checked out."

Neither Rich nor Strimones identified the skydivers involved.

Firefighters arriving at the scene quickly made a priority of finding out how many people were missing following the jump. Strimenos said that nine of the 12 people blown off course managed to land without incident outside the grounds of the Skydive Pepperell airport, which is used only for skydiving.

Strimenos said those involved in Saturday's jump were trained to look for landing sites like the open fields across the river if they get blown off target.

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