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Hernando Today

Sky jumper describes near disaster on TV series

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By TONY HOLT | Hernando Today

Published: July 23, 2009

Updated: 07/24/2009 03:27 pm

BROOKSVILLE - He was gliding over Puerto Rico at 90 mph and falling toward the Earth at about half the speed, but he was navigating the dive and was in complete control.

Then a fellow jumper 20 feet above him hit a pocket of dead air and crashed on top of him.

Scott Bland lost control.

"The training becomes your instincts and your instincts are what you depend on," he said.

That didn't mean he wasn't worried in the moments after the collision. Everything was a blur as he cartwheeled through the sky.

"I thought, 'oh crap,'" said Bland, who lives in Brooksville.

His daredevil story will be told on the Discovery Channel's "Moments of Impact." The episode will premiere at 9 p.m. today.

The other divers broke their formation and flew toward him, but he recovered in time to open his chute and land safely, he said.

His legs and lower back were stiff and sore for days following the impact.

"It's like if someone fell on top of you in a pool from a high dive," Bland said. "He slammed me pretty hard."

A couple of Puerto Rican beers helped ease the pain that evening, he said.

The man who crashed into him was not injured.

Bland was in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, in February 2008 for a freefall festival. He and his teammates were wearing wingsuits, which allows the jumper to "fly" in the air during a jump rather than fall straight downward.

The diver spreads his or her arms and legs and the flaps in the suit act like gliders.

Teams often jump and fly in choreographed formations and Bland was doing that with his team in Puerto Rico when the mishap occurred.

For about 10 seconds, he was spinning and tumbling uncontrollably - with new equipment.

"I don't like to go spinning away and tumbling with a new suit on," he said. "I saw ground and then sky, ground and then sky over and over."

Bland is vacationing in North Carolina, but he planned to tune in to the premiere tonight.

"I'm curious to see how bad they will make me look," he said.

Discovery is on channel 34 on Bright House Networks Tampa.

Reporter Tony Holt can be reached at 352-544-5283 or wholt@hernandotoday.com.

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