No Facebook, no email back in the day

Long before the advent of email, urgent APF safety advice was conveyed by telegram. This message to the SASPC from then APF national safety officer Claude Gillard was hand-delivered by Post Office messenger, probably on a pushbike, to Col Parsons at his Tusmore flat in 1970.
It followed lengthy investigation of a recent Sydney fatality in which an experienced instructor (781 jumps) died at Wilton after a main-reserve entanglement. The investigation had established the cause of the main malfunction was an unsecured steering toggle snaring the pilot chute bridle.
This was before ram airs when brakes weren’t set. Steering lines (with wooden toggles ) simply sat in elastic keepers on the risers – easily dislodged while packing or just as easy to overlook.
###