The husband of a woman who died in a horrific skydiving accident near Cairns says the industry is still largely unregulated, and more needs to be done to prevent other lives being lost.
Mother-of-eight Kerri Pike died five years ago today, while on a tandem jump for her 54th birthday at Mission Beach.
Two other instructors were also killed after becoming involved in the mid-air collision, high above the close-knit, seaside community, on a sunny Friday afternoon.
Ms Pike's husband Alister, who bought the tandem jump as a birthday gift for his wife, said little had changed in the industry, despite a raft of recommendations made during an inquest examining the trio's deaths.
"This incident was always going to happen at some point in time, because there is scant regulation in the industry," Mr Pike said.
Mr Pike said the years since his wife's death had been a "roller-coaster".
"There's a not a day that goes past that I don't think about what happened," Mr Pike said.
"You move forward a few steps, but you don't ever really move on."
Mid-air collision
An inquest in Cairns in August 2019 found sports jumper Toby Turner, 34, made an "error of judgement" when he packed his small sports parachute, into a large, incompatible container before the accident.
He was directly underneath and facing Ms Pike and her friend and tandem instructor Peter Dawson, when the chute opened.
The three collided and fell to the ground.
In her findings, coroner Nerida Wilson referred to a lack of regulation for solo sports jumpers.
"There is a culture in the skydiving industry which allows those with experience to self-regulate with regard to downsizing and container compatibility," she said at the time.
Ms Wilson made several recommendations, including that the Australian Parachute Federation implement mandatory day-to-day buddy checks prior to boarding the plane, and six-month equipment checks on all sports rigs.
But Mr Pike said the recommendations didn't go far enough, particularly regarding parachutes being packed into inadequate containers.
Husband sues over wife's death
Mr Pike said he had launched two separate claims against Experience Co, which owns Australia Skydive, including a dependency claim and personal injury claim.
He said he filed the claims in the Cairns District Court to draw attention to the industry.
"This destroyed my family, and I don't want anyone to ever go through what we've been through," Mr Pike said.
"This is about recognition of preventable deaths."
A spokeswoman for Skydive Australia said the company found to be operating within Australian Parachute Federation regulations at the time and was cleared of any wrongdoing at the subsequent inquest.
"The company continues to operate to a stringent set of safety standards which are constantly reviewed and updated," the spokeswoman said.
"These form part of the company's ongoing training programs across all our drop zones."
"The toxicology reports from the inquest stated that drugs and alcohol were not a cause of impairment for Peter Dawson or Toby Turner.
"Regardless, Skydive Australia takes this matter very seriously and works with an independent third-party testing organisation to conduct frequent, random tests with our employees across all divisions of the company."
The ABC has contacted the Australian Parachute Federation, which regulates skydiving in conjunction with the Civil Aviation Safety Authority, for comment.
