
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, October 5, 1993                   TAG: 9310050114
SECTION: CURRENT                    PAGE: NRV2   EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY  
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ORANGE                                  LENGTH: Short

PARACHUTE COLLAPSE KILLS RU STUDENT DURING JUMP

A Radford University freshman who was sky diving died after his parachute collapsed during a 10,500-foot jump over the Orange County Airport, authorities said.

Harold Ronald "Ron" Gross, 19 and from Alexandria, was among several sky divers making a jump Sunday afternoon, county Sheriff Bill Spence said.

Witnesses said Gross's parachute appeared to collapse about 200 feet from the ground, "and it never fully reopened," Spence said.

Among those at the airport was Gross's father, retired Col. Alan Gross of Alexandria, who also is a sky diver.

Friends and club members said Harold Gross had been jumping for two years and had completed more than 200 jumps.

Gross was a pre-business major at Radford, according to school records.

Ric Dennis, a spokesman for Skydive Orange, the airport-based club, said Gross's death was the first sky-diving fatality for the 16-year-old club. Dennis attributed the accident to strong winds.

Spence said the sheriff's department is investigating the accident.

Keywords:
FATALITY

by CNB