iFLY Sued By A Palos Park Over Man Indoor Skydiving Accident

iFLY Sued By A Palos Park Over Man Indoor Skydiving Accident

Introduction

On Tuesday, a local legal firm filed a revised case on behalf of a Palos Park man who became paraplegic after an indoor skydiving accident in January 2021.

According to the revised lawsuit, on January 21, 2021, the 63-year-old plaintiff was engaging in an indoor skydiving activity at iFLY in Rosemont when he became plainly unstable and the instructors and spotters responsible for his safety failed to intervene and protect him.

The plaintiff subsequently crashed into a wall inside the iFLY facility, rendering him quadriplegic, unable to move any of his limbs or torso from the neck down.

The plaintiff's counsel stated that iFLY should not sell this sport on its own website as highly safe and suitable for children as young as three years old, but then keep legal records that refer to iFLY indoor skydiving as an inherently dangerous activity. It is impossible for iFLY to have it both ways. You can't ask parents to hold birthday parties for children as young as three at iFLY and then declare it intrinsically unsafe.

The action, which is still continuing in Cook County Circuit Court, charges carelessness, wanton and deliberate wrongdoing, and false misrepresentation. The plaintiff's legal firm conducted a news conference where they presented a written statement from the plaintiff, the filed lawsuit, and videos and images of the incident.

Throughout response to the complaint, an iFLY representative stated that in the firm's more than 20 years of existence, over 15 million passengers have safely flown with iFLY across all sites, and the company will continue to prioritise the safety of all customers. iFLY feels deeply for the complainant and his family. The fatality was a very experienced, licenced skydiver with the US Parachute Association with over 80 jumps who was receiving training in the iFLY wind tunnel from another experienced skydiver from Skydive Chicago at their private event for experienced skydivers at the time.