BuffaloPaul
10-21-2006, 12:31 AM
I went to Youtube first to see if I could find the video of this stunt, but was only able to find this...
(by the way... this is NOT the way to perform an assault on the media)...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdPxrVwtaes
Also... check out the comments on that video.
I should set up video cameras at the falls and record THAT for a year. With the Casinos now open on both sided of the border, there may be more reasons for people to take the plunge.
I wasn't able to find the video of the Jet Ski incident, but I did find a still image and a couple web pages discussing the story...
ROBERT OVERACKER
1995
(Died)
http://www.iaw.com/%7Efalls/image/DDoveracker.jpg
Robert Overacker going over the Horseshoe Falls to his death
Robert Overacker, a 39 year old man from Camarillo, California challenged the Niagara River and the mighty Horseshoe Falls at 12:35 p.m. on October 1st 1995. Riding on a single jet ski, Overacker launched himself into the Niagara River upstream of the Falls from the area of the Canadian Niagara Power Plant . Robert Overacker rode his jet ski directly at the brink of the Horseshoe Falls.
At the brink of the Falls, Overacker ignited a rocket propelled parachute that was strapped to his back. His plan was that the rocket would quickly deploy the parachute allowing him to safely land in to river below the Horseshoe Falls where he could be rescued. Overacker did ignite the rocket which deployed the parachute as planned. Unfortunately as the parachute deployed it fell away from Overacker to the ground below. Unknown to Overacker the parachute was not tethered to his body. The parachute was not packed by Overacker prior to the stunt and he was unaware of this fatal error. His step-brother and a friend witnessed this unfolding tragedy as Overacker fell to his death to the water below the Falls.
Robert Overacker was married and had no children. Overacker became the fifteenth person since 1901 to challenge the Falls. Robert Overacker challenged the Niagara River and paid with his life. His body was recovered by staff at the Maid of the Mist.
(1 October 1995, Canada) Horseshoe Falls is on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. Over a decade ago, a daredevil named Robert equipped himself with a homemade rocket-parachute contraption and rode a jet ski over Horseshoe Falls at full throttle. He planned to ignite the rocket to propel him clear of the falls, then deploy the parachute and float down to the river below, where he would be fished out by the Maid o' the Mist tour boat.
But the water had a dampening effect on his equipment. The rocket failed to ignite and the parachute failed to deploy. However, the third phase of his scheme did work according to plan. His corpse was recovered from the river below by the Maid o' the Mist staff.
http://www.darwinawards.com/i/art/banwell/darwin2000-26.gif
http://www.iaw.com/~falls/devil_frame.html#OVERACKER (http://www.iaw.com/%7Efalls/devil_frame.html#OVERACKER)
http://www.darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin2000-26.html
(by the way... this is NOT the way to perform an assault on the media)...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdPxrVwtaes
Also... check out the comments on that video.
I should set up video cameras at the falls and record THAT for a year. With the Casinos now open on both sided of the border, there may be more reasons for people to take the plunge.
I wasn't able to find the video of the Jet Ski incident, but I did find a still image and a couple web pages discussing the story...
ROBERT OVERACKER
1995
(Died)
http://www.iaw.com/%7Efalls/image/DDoveracker.jpg
Robert Overacker going over the Horseshoe Falls to his death
Robert Overacker, a 39 year old man from Camarillo, California challenged the Niagara River and the mighty Horseshoe Falls at 12:35 p.m. on October 1st 1995. Riding on a single jet ski, Overacker launched himself into the Niagara River upstream of the Falls from the area of the Canadian Niagara Power Plant . Robert Overacker rode his jet ski directly at the brink of the Horseshoe Falls.
At the brink of the Falls, Overacker ignited a rocket propelled parachute that was strapped to his back. His plan was that the rocket would quickly deploy the parachute allowing him to safely land in to river below the Horseshoe Falls where he could be rescued. Overacker did ignite the rocket which deployed the parachute as planned. Unfortunately as the parachute deployed it fell away from Overacker to the ground below. Unknown to Overacker the parachute was not tethered to his body. The parachute was not packed by Overacker prior to the stunt and he was unaware of this fatal error. His step-brother and a friend witnessed this unfolding tragedy as Overacker fell to his death to the water below the Falls.
Robert Overacker was married and had no children. Overacker became the fifteenth person since 1901 to challenge the Falls. Robert Overacker challenged the Niagara River and paid with his life. His body was recovered by staff at the Maid of the Mist.
(1 October 1995, Canada) Horseshoe Falls is on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. Over a decade ago, a daredevil named Robert equipped himself with a homemade rocket-parachute contraption and rode a jet ski over Horseshoe Falls at full throttle. He planned to ignite the rocket to propel him clear of the falls, then deploy the parachute and float down to the river below, where he would be fished out by the Maid o' the Mist tour boat.
But the water had a dampening effect on his equipment. The rocket failed to ignite and the parachute failed to deploy. However, the third phase of his scheme did work according to plan. His corpse was recovered from the river below by the Maid o' the Mist staff.
http://www.darwinawards.com/i/art/banwell/darwin2000-26.gif
http://www.iaw.com/~falls/devil_frame.html#OVERACKER (http://www.iaw.com/%7Efalls/devil_frame.html#OVERACKER)
http://www.darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin2000-26.html