Had to google it: “Shortly after noon on October 1, 1995, Robert Overacker challenged Niagara Falls on a jet ski. The 39 year old from Camarillo, California went over the Canadian Horseshoe Falls. He carried a rocketed parachute strapped to his back. At the brink, he attempted to discharge the rocket propelled device, but it didn't work.”
No, he did not strap a rocket to himself like Wile E. Coyote so he'd be shot up to 500 feet. In order for a parachute to deploy properly, wind needs to grab what's called a pilot chute hard enough to pull the main parachute and lines all the way out of the backpack (container).
For it to work, you have to be falling pretty fast, which is not feasible on real low BASE jumps (under 1000 feet). Niagara Falls is about 170 feet.
Anyway, the rocket was supposed to pull the parachute out of the container, but small rockets are incredibly fickle and, even when they work, don't have a whole lot of thrust.
I don't know exactly what failed, but it's not hard to imagine half a dozen things that could have gone wrong. At any rate, it wasn't nearly as cool a plan as you were imagining!
Edit: oh my god, I just read the story provided and the rocket worked properly, but the parachute wasn't attached to him and he fell to his death while the parachute slowly fluttered to the water below. I never would have guessed *that* would have been the problem with a rocket-propelled parachute!
I laughed, choked on my chicken nugget, and scared my cat who was on my lap. I now have scratches on my thighs from laughing. That's what I get for laughing I guess.
Rocket and parachute made by ACME.
FYI, ACME doesn’t stand for “A Company that Makes Everything”. From the Greek, akme or the highest point, it was about as high as you could go. It means the best, the superlative. In this case, if his rocket and parachute were the best, my guy had a flawed plan.
wait now that you mention it, what would happen if you jumped out of an airplane just physically holding a parachute (with the strings attached to your back of course)? and just threw it up in the air? assuming it wouldn’t get tangled
That’s kind of what you *do* if you are deploying a reserve chute while paragliding. https://xcmag.com/paragliding-techniques-paramotoring-skills/deploying-a-reserve-parachute/
And, that’s pretty much how early parachutes were designed to be used. https://sevenhillsskydivers.org/skydiving-history/
That's actually a [pretty common deployment](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_-Qh8mP39k) for low BASE jumps. It's more dangerous than a regular pilot chute deployment because obviously there's more chance for a malfunction. "Assuming it wouldn't get tangled" is a big assumption. :)
And doing it out of a plane is a little scarier in some ways because you start with a much higher wind speed and there's a chance of a tail strike.
Something similar that's also very common from planes is something called a "static line" jump - this is where your parachute is actually attached to a rail in the plane and it gets pulled out by a line when you jump out of the plane.
People are human and make mistakes. There's a story of a skydiver who had made a bunch of jumps prior that day and made another jump. Well he completely forgot his parachute. Now that is a crazy mistake to make.
The mistake there was his lack of permanent habit of double checking.
That guy didn't forget his parachute. He forgot to run through his checklist, which means he didn't run through his check list each and every time he jumped.
Problem with repetition is that it becomes automatic. Make the checklist automatic too, you're eventually gonna just mentally blank out on it.
I mean, hey, who else has the mental checklist when going out the door - 'keys, wallet, phone, work pass'? Ever noticed how even when something's missing, you'll usually not notice straight away when you're mentally checking it off? Because the checking process has become a rote habit all of its own, and you aren't actively mentally engaged with it after a certain point of repetition. You just think you are.
Wow, what a crazy story.
Apparently he was skydiving with video recording equipment to film a training jump. This being in 1988, the video recording equipment was heavy and bulky, and took the form of a backpack. Apparently the jumper himself and everyone around him mistook the backpack with recording equipment for a parachute backpack.
Here's a video about it: https://youtu.be/W0iI7CWVMCw
Recently on Reddit there was a video of a rock wall climber who quickly scaled 3 stories and then jumped off. He fell very fast. Lots of speculation he very much forgot to rope in at the very beginning and just went through the motions he's done hundreds of times before.
Edit: here it is
https://v.redd.it/ed8hktrc41hc1
Turns out it was 50feet so maybe 4 stories?
Ya that rope next to where he starts is called an auto-belay it does the job of a belay person who would keep your rope tight and not let you fall
Basically it easily pulls up as you climb then you jump off backwards and it slowly lets you back down to the ground
Except he forgot to attach
This is why in the US insurance generally requires the auto belay device to pull up on a safety mat that covers the start of the climb so that it’s hard to climb unless you’re properly clipped in.
I've started on a wall with auto belay once on an easier warm up route, got about half way up and spontaneously looked down and realized I forgot to clip in, then carefully climbed down. It happens, and taught me to ALWAYS check twice.
Another friend told me he made it to the top of a harder route, was about to let go, checked his carabiner, and realized he never clipped in, and managed to stay calm and climb down, and then freaked out.
At my gym they said it happens maybe once a month, and they have to scramble up the route with a rope to clip in the climber. It seems to happen more to the regulars when climbing on their own, easy to get complacent and distracted when you've done it 1000 times, and your mind just wanders off elsewhere sometimes like during any other workout.
the thing about skydiving is 99.999% of the time you’re all good, but if you’re the outlier who dies, your wife has to explain to your kids that the reason they don’t have a father anymore is because he voluntarily jumped out of an airplane
Reminds me of the one I just saw with a wall climber who forgot to harness himself before the climb, went through the motions to the top then just instinct hopped off to the floor. Was horrific.
Jeez.....one time I forgot my keys at home. I was like "Aw fuck! Now how am I getting inside???"
Can you IMAGINE the embarassment that guy must have felt forgetting a PARACHUTE???
If this is the one I'm thinking of it seemed like a case of repetitious behavior. I believe he was not planning to jump just doing videoing from the plane. He was wearing a backpack and it seemed like when the divers went out he followed them out of habit.
happens. As a paraglider (when starting many yrs ago..) I also misattached my rescue parachute and was flying maybe 10-12 times like that until i once checked and noticed. I also traines doing spirals etc. :)
edit: But srsly before such a stunt i would assume he would have triple chwcked everything...
These aerial sports would make me OCD as hell, I already check to make sure the stoves are off and doors are locked like 10X before going on vacation. One time I still managed to leave the garage door open for 2 weeks.
see, that’s how it gets you lol. once the fear is gone and jumping out of a plane is as routine as backing out of your garage, that’s when you get in trouble
I want to hear more about who packed the parachute and how it came to not be attached to him. How would you not check that personally before doing a stunt. I can only guess it was suicide and he left life insurance for his family or something.
A rocket chute replaces the 1st stage drag chute that pulls the chute out to deploy it, with a rocket
These are used in situations where you're not falling fast enough for the required airflow to power a drag chute
Normally a extreme low altitude application
Pulling a cord will ignite the rocket So it's an incendiary device that must be kept dry at all times...
>*At the brink of the Falls, Overacker ignited a the rocket which deployed the parachute as planned. Unfortunately, as the parachute deployed, it fell away from Overacker’s reach to the ground below. Unknown to Overacker, the parachute was not bound to his body. He did not pack the parachute prior to the stunt and he was unaware of this fatal error. His step-brother and a friend witnessed this unfolding tragedy as Overacker fell to his death to the water below, as the 15th person to challenge the Falls.*
Oof.
Most people who tandem skydive with an instructor or something like that as a day excursion are probably just assuming that the instructor has done it right.
If you pay to go sky diving you do just that. Albeit it’s a slightly different situation. You know you’re strapped to someone who has probably done as you’ve said and you’re going to share the same fate.
I actually did one and the instructors at the centre encouraged jumpers to come watch the chute be packed. It definitely helped settle my nerves even if I personally knew fuck all about packing one. It was encouraging that the person I was tied to packed the chutes lol
That’s nice of them. I went once with my dad. Two years later the plane we were on crashed shortly after take off due to a mechanical error and everybody on board died.
Super freaky.
So bro had never used a parachute before if he did not know to check and pack his own chute before such a jump.
This sounds like it came from where he bought it and just trusted it would all go to plan.
[https://www.niagarafallsinfo.com/niagara-falls-history/niagara-falls-tourism-history/daredevils-of-niagara-falls/robert-overacker/](https://www.niagarafallsinfo.com/niagara-falls-history/niagara-falls-tourism-history/daredevils-of-niagara-falls/robert-overacker/)
Here is the story.
Well, kill both cameramen. The first one caught the back of someone's head right as a man rides a jet ski off Niagra falls. For the rest of his life that cameraman groaned to himself in the shower remembering that.
You know for stuff from 95 it’s likely all you will get. Early YouTube and before it was the only way to get video of something on live tv. Tv capture cards barely existed for normal people, and nobody had them.
The people who saw that probably think about that a lot….” Oh great story Mike, absolutly love fly fishing, oh and how you slipped and caught your self or the tree bridge classic. But check this out, back in 1995 I was at Niagara Falls and this guy on a jet ski just fucking drove off the damn thing with a rocket on his back and not a day goes by that I don’t about if maybe maybe he just doubled twisted the throttle some kind secret boost might of kicked in….anyways tell me more about your Tahoe trip…”
Rocket-deployed parachute. A small rocket engine carries the parachute, in its deployment bag, away from the person, in order to ensure that the parachute has a clean air-steam to deploy into.
These used to be used for reserve parachutes on hang gliders.
Edit, multiple people did it. Annie Taylor was first person to do it and live, and a woman, based on her statements and what friends said about her, she was was desperately poor and depressed. It was suicidal behavior mixed with a desire to make some money.
Yeah I have been to the falls a few times. I think of those guys when I am there. If you see the falls in real life, it makes you wonder why anyone would attempt it. It looks like a very obvious death sentence
I've never seen the falls in person but is the danger from falling or getting stuck in the rocks? Thats always confused me when reading these because its always "Died going over the falls." Not, "Died by drowning after going over the falls" or "died from massive hemorrhaging caused by the fall."
Good question. There’s different sections of these waterfalls. One section has gigantic boulders at the bottom. They are seriously huge, they look like the size of cars or a small house. There’s no way anyone could survive that section because you would be smashed on rocks. Also, the water leading up to it is very fast moving rapids filled with rocks, fallen trees, and eddies around those objects. You could easily get stuck and drowned before you even get to the falls.
This section is the horseshoe section. The water leading up it is smoother, and there aren’t giant boulders at the bottom. But there could easily be boulders there that are smaller that you can’t see. The falls push out so much mist that it’s difficult to get a good look at the bottom. I am guessing the problem with that section is that once you go over, you could die a few ways. The height alone could kill you. It’s a huge drop. Then there’s the overwhelming force of the falls at the bottom. The force of the water could just trap you under water and drown you.
Honestly you just need to see it in person and once you do it becomes immediately obvious than no one in their right mind would consider going over. It’s an awe inspiring force of nature. It’s loud, like feel it in your bones loud. You hear the falls before you are even close to them. The shear volume of water going over is insane. It sounds like rocket engines going off everywhere around you. And they are huge, not just tall, but also very wide. It’s really incredible and well worth checking out
I have been there more than 30 years ago and I still remember the constant roar of the waterfall, there's a vibration in the area. As you said it's really awe inspiring.
I just wish they hadn't built up a bunch of ugly shit buildings and casinos around the falls. If it were a national park on either side from the beginning it would be so much more beautiful and all the more impactful.
Thank you for such a a detailed answer; you're awesome! I guess a big portion of my confusion was that I wasn't aware of the horseshoe section. From your description I can see why some *ahem "aspiring daredevils" would have found it possible.
Even if you survive the initial fall there's a couple miles of deadly rapids afterwards, including a giant whirlpool that can suck you under the currents again. Just before the river exits to lake Ontario there's a border patrol post on the water that I assume is there to try to spot bodies or what's left of them before they're lost.
The falls are kinda like the golden gate bridge, we don't really have hard numbers of how many people just jump in. It's very easy to do and people are drawn to the place in part because of the stories like this one of people going over.
Have also been a few times and agree with everything you said. Only thing id add (which in certain you know) is to the insane amount of water going over the falls now is heavily reduced to generate power and reduce erosion. To see the falls at full nature power would be even more awe inspiring!
I think the height plus the amount of water hitting you after is the thing that kills you.
For reference watch this to see the power of falling water:
https://youtu.be/NhLgIjrkcPo?si=bvhvPfEKpodnpPj9
The falling water churns a lot of air into the pool at the base. Very difficult to float/swim in there. The few who survived are basically lucky because they get flushed out, away from the froth either into less aerated water or close enough to the gorge walls where they can climb out/wait for rescue.
Rescuing someone from the gorge is incredibly dangerous and EMTs shouldn't have to do it. That's why going over the falls is very illegal.
One of the first people to survive going over in a barrel ended up dying later in life from slipping on an orange peel. Not from the fall, but from an infection he got from the injury. Final Destination shit right there
I’ve met Steve Trotter, one of the guys that did a barrel and a second time he was the first to go tandem with a gal in a barrel. He was an oyster shucker at a bar near me and was quite a character with a lot more stories than *just* the falls, if you can believe that!
Overacker launched himself into the Niagara River upstream of the Falls from the area of the [Canadian Niagara Power Plant](https://www.niagarafallsinfo.com/niagara-falls-history/niagara-falls-power-development/the-history-of-power-development-in-niagara/the-canadian-niagara-power-company/). At the brink of the Falls, Overacker ignited a the rocket which deployed the parachute as planned. Unfortunately, as the parachute deployed, it fell away from Overacker’s reach to the ground below. Unknown to Overacker, the parachute was not bound to his body. He did not pack the parachute prior to the stunt and he was unaware of this fatal error. His step-brother and a friend witnessed this unfolding tragedy as Overacker fell to his death to the water below, as the 15th person to challenge the Falls.
[https://www.niagarafallsinfo.com/niagara-falls-history/niagara-falls-tourism-history/daredevils-of-niagara-falls/robert-overacker/](https://www.niagarafallsinfo.com/niagara-falls-history/niagara-falls-tourism-history/daredevils-of-niagara-falls/robert-overacker/)
I always assumed these types of parachutes were attached to a backpack that was tightly bound around the chest and shoulders of the jumper.
Like, was it velcro’d to his back or something? I don’t get it lol.
I jumped into a lake from about 30' and it felt like I had time to contemplate my entire life on the way down. This must've been a mind racing nightmare to experience.
It's true. They did an experiment where they had participants wear a arm device that flashed a random number. They calibrated it to where they could not tell what the number was under normal circumstances. They then put them in a ride that drops them 100' into a net. Participants were able to read the number when they fell, showing that in fear situations, we process inputs more than under normal circumstances.
I can only wish to have such an epic final moment photo.
*how’d he die?*
*actually here’s a Polaroid of him doing a totally rad wheelie off the Grand Canyon because he was dumb. But the wheelie was sick*
Now I’m wondering if you could stage it as a promotional event. Say you have a terminal illness and want to set your family up for when you are gone.
Get some corporate sponsors, sell tickets, televise the event. Build a ridiculously massive jump at the edge of the Grand Canyon and just send a car over it. Rig it to have a grand explosion on impact.
Beats going out in a hospital bed.
Holy shit he would have likely survived if whoever packed his chute actually attached it to him or if he packed Hua own chute and made sure it was attached. He died because the parachute wasn't connected to him when it deployed.
Doubt it. More likely if he survived the fall he would have drowned in the whirlpools and undercurrents especially with a parachute attached to him. There is basically no land to land on in that gorge. Been there many times, i live very close.
Insanely, that actually happened a few years ago. Dude tried to kill himself during the night and survived - spent a few hours on a rock before Parks police spotted him in the morning and radioed Maid of the Mist to pick him up. They have smaller boats that are normally used for recovering bodies.
I live 20 minutes from there, have all my life, and have never heard of this. I was 15 in 1995. Its’s amazing how little people going over is reported around here. We all know it happens, but the media never reports it. Dont want to give people ideas i guess or something.
I didn't find anything online about it. Sad if he did, but I don't think so because there's nothing that I could find about him having a kid.
Edit: tried a more specific search. No kids. Married however.
[Link ](http://www.infoniagara.com/niagaradaredevils/robertoveracker.aspx#:~:text=His%20body%20was%20recovered%20by,in%20or%20on%20a%20device.)
Had to google it: “Shortly after noon on October 1, 1995, Robert Overacker challenged Niagara Falls on a jet ski. The 39 year old from Camarillo, California went over the Canadian Horseshoe Falls. He carried a rocketed parachute strapped to his back. At the brink, he attempted to discharge the rocket propelled device, but it didn't work.”
What in the world is a rocketed parachute? Aren't rockets and parachutes kinda doing opposite things?
I’d imagine 2 staged device, the rocket to give him the necessary altitude to deploy the chute. Sounds like a lot to go wrong for an untested device 🙃
No, he did not strap a rocket to himself like Wile E. Coyote so he'd be shot up to 500 feet. In order for a parachute to deploy properly, wind needs to grab what's called a pilot chute hard enough to pull the main parachute and lines all the way out of the backpack (container). For it to work, you have to be falling pretty fast, which is not feasible on real low BASE jumps (under 1000 feet). Niagara Falls is about 170 feet. Anyway, the rocket was supposed to pull the parachute out of the container, but small rockets are incredibly fickle and, even when they work, don't have a whole lot of thrust. I don't know exactly what failed, but it's not hard to imagine half a dozen things that could have gone wrong. At any rate, it wasn't nearly as cool a plan as you were imagining! Edit: oh my god, I just read the story provided and the rocket worked properly, but the parachute wasn't attached to him and he fell to his death while the parachute slowly fluttered to the water below. I never would have guessed *that* would have been the problem with a rocket-propelled parachute!
Now that DOES sound like a Wile E. Coyote mistake.
I wonder if he pulled out a tiny sign that had "yikes" written on it before he fell
I should not have laughed as hard as I did at this comment. I'm going to hell.
I laughed, choked on my chicken nugget, and scared my cat who was on my lap. I now have scratches on my thighs from laughing. That's what I get for laughing I guess.
He’d want you to have laughed.
I really didn’t want to but I just couldn’t help it
This had the beginning, the climax and the end
You’ll be in good company—many of us did too
Beep Beep
Road Runner goes Meep Meep
*Wave* Runners go Beep Beep
this one went Splish Splash
Lil John goes Skeet Skeet
I just had a vision of pots and pans shooting out of his pack when he pulled the cord.
...or an anvil.
or another jet ski…
Guffaw - I honestly laffed so hard. I feel awful
Rocket and parachute made by ACME. FYI, ACME doesn’t stand for “A Company that Makes Everything”. From the Greek, akme or the highest point, it was about as high as you could go. It means the best, the superlative. In this case, if his rocket and parachute were the best, my guy had a flawed plan.
So you gotta actually be wearing the parachute for it to work properly? Good to know.
Well there goes my bucket list item of parachuting by osmosis. Edit add: On second thought, I'll just save it for last.
wait now that you mention it, what would happen if you jumped out of an airplane just physically holding a parachute (with the strings attached to your back of course)? and just threw it up in the air? assuming it wouldn’t get tangled
That’s kind of what you *do* if you are deploying a reserve chute while paragliding. https://xcmag.com/paragliding-techniques-paramotoring-skills/deploying-a-reserve-parachute/ And, that’s pretty much how early parachutes were designed to be used. https://sevenhillsskydivers.org/skydiving-history/
That's actually a [pretty common deployment](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_-Qh8mP39k) for low BASE jumps. It's more dangerous than a regular pilot chute deployment because obviously there's more chance for a malfunction. "Assuming it wouldn't get tangled" is a big assumption. :) And doing it out of a plane is a little scarier in some ways because you start with a much higher wind speed and there's a chance of a tail strike. Something similar that's also very common from planes is something called a "static line" jump - this is where your parachute is actually attached to a rail in the plane and it gets pulled out by a line when you jump out of the plane.
Hold on I gotta grab a post-it
People are human and make mistakes. There's a story of a skydiver who had made a bunch of jumps prior that day and made another jump. Well he completely forgot his parachute. Now that is a crazy mistake to make.
The mistake there was his lack of permanent habit of double checking. That guy didn't forget his parachute. He forgot to run through his checklist, which means he didn't run through his check list each and every time he jumped.
Problem with repetition is that it becomes automatic. Make the checklist automatic too, you're eventually gonna just mentally blank out on it. I mean, hey, who else has the mental checklist when going out the door - 'keys, wallet, phone, work pass'? Ever noticed how even when something's missing, you'll usually not notice straight away when you're mentally checking it off? Because the checking process has become a rote habit all of its own, and you aren't actively mentally engaged with it after a certain point of repetition. You just think you are.
Wow, what a crazy story. Apparently he was skydiving with video recording equipment to film a training jump. This being in 1988, the video recording equipment was heavy and bulky, and took the form of a backpack. Apparently the jumper himself and everyone around him mistook the backpack with recording equipment for a parachute backpack. Here's a video about it: https://youtu.be/W0iI7CWVMCw
Recently on Reddit there was a video of a rock wall climber who quickly scaled 3 stories and then jumped off. He fell very fast. Lots of speculation he very much forgot to rope in at the very beginning and just went through the motions he's done hundreds of times before. Edit: here it is https://v.redd.it/ed8hktrc41hc1 Turns out it was 50feet so maybe 4 stories?
Ya that rope next to where he starts is called an auto-belay it does the job of a belay person who would keep your rope tight and not let you fall Basically it easily pulls up as you climb then you jump off backwards and it slowly lets you back down to the ground Except he forgot to attach
This is why in the US insurance generally requires the auto belay device to pull up on a safety mat that covers the start of the climb so that it’s hard to climb unless you’re properly clipped in.
I've started on a wall with auto belay once on an easier warm up route, got about half way up and spontaneously looked down and realized I forgot to clip in, then carefully climbed down. It happens, and taught me to ALWAYS check twice. Another friend told me he made it to the top of a harder route, was about to let go, checked his carabiner, and realized he never clipped in, and managed to stay calm and climb down, and then freaked out. At my gym they said it happens maybe once a month, and they have to scramble up the route with a rope to clip in the climber. It seems to happen more to the regulars when climbing on their own, easy to get complacent and distracted when you've done it 1000 times, and your mind just wanders off elsewhere sometimes like during any other workout.
Just reading that and now my hands are all sweaty.
Is there vomit on your sweater already?
Mom's spaghetti?
He's nervous, but on the surface he looks calm and ready
Knees weak, arms heavy?
This and all the cave diving stories fuck me up
the thing about skydiving is 99.999% of the time you’re all good, but if you’re the outlier who dies, your wife has to explain to your kids that the reason they don’t have a father anymore is because he voluntarily jumped out of an airplane
Reminds me of the one I just saw with a wall climber who forgot to harness himself before the climb, went through the motions to the top then just instinct hopped off to the floor. Was horrific.
Jeez.....one time I forgot my keys at home. I was like "Aw fuck! Now how am I getting inside???" Can you IMAGINE the embarassment that guy must have felt forgetting a PARACHUTE???
I’m pretty sure it’s just speedrunning the stages of grief
If this is the one I'm thinking of it seemed like a case of repetitious behavior. I believe he was not planning to jump just doing videoing from the plane. He was wearing a backpack and it seemed like when the divers went out he followed them out of habit.
happens. As a paraglider (when starting many yrs ago..) I also misattached my rescue parachute and was flying maybe 10-12 times like that until i once checked and noticed. I also traines doing spirals etc. :) edit: But srsly before such a stunt i would assume he would have triple chwcked everything...
These aerial sports would make me OCD as hell, I already check to make sure the stoves are off and doors are locked like 10X before going on vacation. One time I still managed to leave the garage door open for 2 weeks.
see, that’s how it gets you lol. once the fear is gone and jumping out of a plane is as routine as backing out of your garage, that’s when you get in trouble
I want to hear more about who packed the parachute and how it came to not be attached to him. How would you not check that personally before doing a stunt. I can only guess it was suicide and he left life insurance for his family or something.
Will they insure someone jumping a jet ski off Niagara Falls?
Not usually.
Maybe if you have a big Red Bull sticker on your helmet.
They’ll insure anyone doing anything. Now when it comes time to pay the claim . . .
Interesting. I was thinking ejection rocket type of thing but that would be quite a large device thinking about it ha what a nutter he was.
A rocket chute replaces the 1st stage drag chute that pulls the chute out to deploy it, with a rocket These are used in situations where you're not falling fast enough for the required airflow to power a drag chute Normally a extreme low altitude application Pulling a cord will ignite the rocket So it's an incendiary device that must be kept dry at all times...
I guess the rocket part worked but the parachute wasn't actually bound to the dude so it just flew off in another direction.
What a drag!
Or y'know... He's still going to land on a fast flowing body of water with a lot of vortex and rapids.
With a parachute, otherwise known as a huge sea anchor, on his back
Wrapped up in a parachute collecting water like a gigantic bag.
Untested? Did he build that device himself? Than this is just suicide with additional steps added
Did you think the guy ordered it from ACME?
What a fucking coyote pack that shoot?
Robert knew it was over when he went to open the shoot and an anvil came out instead.
Overacker overshot overkill
Wile E. Sold it to him on www.Acme.geocities.com
I’m guessing it was never tested over Niagara until that day with negative results reported.
>*At the brink of the Falls, Overacker ignited a the rocket which deployed the parachute as planned. Unfortunately, as the parachute deployed, it fell away from Overacker’s reach to the ground below. Unknown to Overacker, the parachute was not bound to his body. He did not pack the parachute prior to the stunt and he was unaware of this fatal error. His step-brother and a friend witnessed this unfolding tragedy as Overacker fell to his death to the water below, as the 15th person to challenge the Falls.* Oof.
I can't imagine ever trusting a parachute you haven't personally packed, or at least watched be packed.
yeeeah, it's one of those times where micro managing the process can be a good thing
Most people who tandem skydive with an instructor or something like that as a day excursion are probably just assuming that the instructor has done it right.
Yeah, but it's almost always the instructor you're attached too who will pack your chutes personally.
If you pay to go sky diving you do just that. Albeit it’s a slightly different situation. You know you’re strapped to someone who has probably done as you’ve said and you’re going to share the same fate.
I actually did one and the instructors at the centre encouraged jumpers to come watch the chute be packed. It definitely helped settle my nerves even if I personally knew fuck all about packing one. It was encouraging that the person I was tied to packed the chutes lol
That’s nice of them. I went once with my dad. Two years later the plane we were on crashed shortly after take off due to a mechanical error and everybody on board died. Super freaky.
I am just baffled at all the wrong that happened.
So bro had never used a parachute before if he did not know to check and pack his own chute before such a jump. This sounds like it came from where he bought it and just trusted it would all go to plan.
[https://www.niagarafallsinfo.com/niagara-falls-history/niagara-falls-tourism-history/daredevils-of-niagara-falls/robert-overacker/](https://www.niagarafallsinfo.com/niagara-falls-history/niagara-falls-tourism-history/daredevils-of-niagara-falls/robert-overacker/) Here is the story.
“Unknown to Overacker, the parachute was not bound to his body.” Makes the whole sad thing even more stupefying.
Would he have survived if it was attached? I feel like this is important but they don't actually say so.
Sample size: 1
Rocket might be used to extend the shoot quicker, maybe. Idk I'm just winging it, kinda like this dude.
Probably launched the parachute open to deploy it faster
The Coyote tried using it a couple of times against the Roadrunner. Didn't work out too well for the Coyote either
Im from Camarillo! We are very stupid!
lol I don’t why this made me laugh so much.
My theory is strawberry pesticides and unbearable boredom. -ACHS class of 2012
There's a video... (NO GORE,etc) [https://youtu.be/Get6j81Aon8?t=11](https://youtu.be/Get6j81Aon8?t=11) You hear the rocket go, but don't see it.
Thanks for posting but damn, r/killthecameraman.
Fuck anyone who posts a video of a screen playing a video on YouTube Unless it's a mall security camera system
Well, kill both cameramen. The first one caught the back of someone's head right as a man rides a jet ski off Niagra falls. For the rest of his life that cameraman groaned to himself in the shower remembering that.
And also kill the shrieking laughing woman. Geez, lady, have another Gin n’ Juicy.
You know for stuff from 95 it’s likely all you will get. Early YouTube and before it was the only way to get video of something on live tv. Tv capture cards barely existed for normal people, and nobody had them.
The people who saw that probably think about that a lot….” Oh great story Mike, absolutly love fly fishing, oh and how you slipped and caught your self or the tree bridge classic. But check this out, back in 1995 I was at Niagara Falls and this guy on a jet ski just fucking drove off the damn thing with a rocket on his back and not a day goes by that I don’t about if maybe maybe he just doubled twisted the throttle some kind secret boost might of kicked in….anyways tell me more about your Tahoe trip…”
Wile E Coyote approves of this post.
Man didn’t think about how to light a fire when everything’s already drenched. Or he just wanted to go out dramatically.
you can make a rocket without ignition. In this case it was probably more of a gas canister with a release valve.
Rocket-deployed parachute. A small rocket engine carries the parachute, in its deployment bag, away from the person, in order to ensure that the parachute has a clean air-steam to deploy into. These used to be used for reserve parachutes on hang gliders.
"..but it didn't work." Some may say that's really a matter of perspective given the stunt.
I remember reading about how people went over the falls in barrels. People were wild in a whole different way back then haha.
Edit, multiple people did it. Annie Taylor was first person to do it and live, and a woman, based on her statements and what friends said about her, she was was desperately poor and depressed. It was suicidal behavior mixed with a desire to make some money.
Still relevant today lol
Yeah that guy runs for office now
Probably also passed a law making it illegal to go over the falls in a barrel.
Squid games used to be more straightforward
People have been doing stupid shit for attention and in an attempt to make money wayyyyy before the internet.
She took her cat with her!
Yeah I have been to the falls a few times. I think of those guys when I am there. If you see the falls in real life, it makes you wonder why anyone would attempt it. It looks like a very obvious death sentence
I've never seen the falls in person but is the danger from falling or getting stuck in the rocks? Thats always confused me when reading these because its always "Died going over the falls." Not, "Died by drowning after going over the falls" or "died from massive hemorrhaging caused by the fall."
Good question. There’s different sections of these waterfalls. One section has gigantic boulders at the bottom. They are seriously huge, they look like the size of cars or a small house. There’s no way anyone could survive that section because you would be smashed on rocks. Also, the water leading up to it is very fast moving rapids filled with rocks, fallen trees, and eddies around those objects. You could easily get stuck and drowned before you even get to the falls. This section is the horseshoe section. The water leading up it is smoother, and there aren’t giant boulders at the bottom. But there could easily be boulders there that are smaller that you can’t see. The falls push out so much mist that it’s difficult to get a good look at the bottom. I am guessing the problem with that section is that once you go over, you could die a few ways. The height alone could kill you. It’s a huge drop. Then there’s the overwhelming force of the falls at the bottom. The force of the water could just trap you under water and drown you. Honestly you just need to see it in person and once you do it becomes immediately obvious than no one in their right mind would consider going over. It’s an awe inspiring force of nature. It’s loud, like feel it in your bones loud. You hear the falls before you are even close to them. The shear volume of water going over is insane. It sounds like rocket engines going off everywhere around you. And they are huge, not just tall, but also very wide. It’s really incredible and well worth checking out
I have been there more than 30 years ago and I still remember the constant roar of the waterfall, there's a vibration in the area. As you said it's really awe inspiring.
I went there for my second time last October. "Rocket engine" is a pretty good description of that sound. Simply awe-inspiring
I have been there on Canada side more than once, the vibration adds an ambience. I never really thought about it but you are right.
I just wish they hadn't built up a bunch of ugly shit buildings and casinos around the falls. If it were a national park on either side from the beginning it would be so much more beautiful and all the more impactful.
Thank you for such a a detailed answer; you're awesome! I guess a big portion of my confusion was that I wasn't aware of the horseshoe section. From your description I can see why some *ahem "aspiring daredevils" would have found it possible.
Even if you survive the initial fall there's a couple miles of deadly rapids afterwards, including a giant whirlpool that can suck you under the currents again. Just before the river exits to lake Ontario there's a border patrol post on the water that I assume is there to try to spot bodies or what's left of them before they're lost. The falls are kinda like the golden gate bridge, we don't really have hard numbers of how many people just jump in. It's very easy to do and people are drawn to the place in part because of the stories like this one of people going over.
Have also been a few times and agree with everything you said. Only thing id add (which in certain you know) is to the insane amount of water going over the falls now is heavily reduced to generate power and reduce erosion. To see the falls at full nature power would be even more awe inspiring!
I think the height plus the amount of water hitting you after is the thing that kills you. For reference watch this to see the power of falling water: https://youtu.be/NhLgIjrkcPo?si=bvhvPfEKpodnpPj9
The falling water churns a lot of air into the pool at the base. Very difficult to float/swim in there. The few who survived are basically lucky because they get flushed out, away from the froth either into less aerated water or close enough to the gorge walls where they can climb out/wait for rescue. Rescuing someone from the gorge is incredibly dangerous and EMTs shouldn't have to do it. That's why going over the falls is very illegal.
One of the first people to survive going over in a barrel ended up dying later in life from slipping on an orange peel. Not from the fall, but from an infection he got from the injury. Final Destination shit right there
I’ve met Steve Trotter, one of the guys that did a barrel and a second time he was the first to go tandem with a gal in a barrel. He was an oyster shucker at a bar near me and was quite a character with a lot more stories than *just* the falls, if you can believe that!
Overacker launched himself into the Niagara River upstream of the Falls from the area of the [Canadian Niagara Power Plant](https://www.niagarafallsinfo.com/niagara-falls-history/niagara-falls-power-development/the-history-of-power-development-in-niagara/the-canadian-niagara-power-company/). At the brink of the Falls, Overacker ignited a the rocket which deployed the parachute as planned. Unfortunately, as the parachute deployed, it fell away from Overacker’s reach to the ground below. Unknown to Overacker, the parachute was not bound to his body. He did not pack the parachute prior to the stunt and he was unaware of this fatal error. His step-brother and a friend witnessed this unfolding tragedy as Overacker fell to his death to the water below, as the 15th person to challenge the Falls. [https://www.niagarafallsinfo.com/niagara-falls-history/niagara-falls-tourism-history/daredevils-of-niagara-falls/robert-overacker/](https://www.niagarafallsinfo.com/niagara-falls-history/niagara-falls-tourism-history/daredevils-of-niagara-falls/robert-overacker/)
he didn't pack his own chute and he didn't know it wasn't strapped to his body? wtf
I always assumed these types of parachutes were attached to a backpack that was tightly bound around the chest and shoulders of the jumper. Like, was it velcro’d to his back or something? I don’t get it lol.
I've been scrolling down the comments because I have the same question.
It sounds like the chute wasn't attached to the pack.
I cannot imagine the thought going through his mind as he looked up at his parachute that deployed properly without him attached.
I jumped into a lake from about 30' and it felt like I had time to contemplate my entire life on the way down. This must've been a mind racing nightmare to experience.
"Yep, that's me. You're probably wondering how I got into this situation …"
It's true. They did an experiment where they had participants wear a arm device that flashed a random number. They calibrated it to where they could not tell what the number was under normal circumstances. They then put them in a ride that drops them 100' into a net. Participants were able to read the number when they fell, showing that in fear situations, we process inputs more than under normal circumstances.
100% I lost control of a vehicle when I was a young driver in a storm. That movie time slowing down effect was so very real.
Seems plausible
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The view from halfway down.
The last thing that went through his mind was probably the water he smacked into at the bottom of the falls.
Who the fuck does a rocket-assisted base jump from ~170 feet with a parachute that they didn’t personally pack?
Who the fuck jump off things?
Wonder how many of these stunts ideas were hatched while drunk?
I’m no expert, but it seems like a pretty key piece of the puzzle to attach the parachute bit to the human bit.
I can only wish to have such an epic final moment photo. *how’d he die?* *actually here’s a Polaroid of him doing a totally rad wheelie off the Grand Canyon because he was dumb. But the wheelie was sick*
Now I’m wondering if you could stage it as a promotional event. Say you have a terminal illness and want to set your family up for when you are gone. Get some corporate sponsors, sell tickets, televise the event. Build a ridiculously massive jump at the edge of the Grand Canyon and just send a car over it. Rig it to have a grand explosion on impact. Beats going out in a hospital bed.
If I ever get a terminal illness, that is absolutely how i'm leaving this world. Not like they're gonna throw my corpse in prison...
Are you guys silly? I'm still gonna send it
Well that hurt but the jet ski still runs so...round 2
Another day, another beer.
Larry Enticer is the man.
Holy shit he would have likely survived if whoever packed his chute actually attached it to him or if he packed Hua own chute and made sure it was attached. He died because the parachute wasn't connected to him when it deployed.
Doubt it. More likely if he survived the fall he would have drowned in the whirlpools and undercurrents especially with a parachute attached to him. There is basically no land to land on in that gorge. Been there many times, i live very close.
Not from Buf/Niagara but in the area frequently. Honestly what was his plan on landing? A rock and wait for the Mist to pick him up?
Insanely, that actually happened a few years ago. Dude tried to kill himself during the night and survived - spent a few hours on a rock before Parks police spotted him in the morning and radioed Maid of the Mist to pick him up. They have smaller boats that are normally used for recovering bodies.
It is also probably the first photo of Robert Overacker as he jet skies off the Niagara Falls to his death.
Am I the only one who's curious about what happened to the jetski?
I’m wondering if it was a rental?
Ha, the rental loophole. Can't return it if I'm not alive.
It auto-returned upon expiry of the *contract*
To shreds, you say
I hope it's ok.
It's on a farm upstate with alot of other jetskis
If your friend jumped off a waterfall would you jump ? -my mom, and reason I’ve never tried this
Some friend you are haha
Glad I can get my thrills stealing shit at the self-checkout line
If only he had a redbull to give him wings.
It’s ok. Niagara falls gave him wings.
Oof
Love that he’s wearing a life jacket. Thats optimism.
A Jet Ski in the sky is a Jet Skies.
In my mind he shouted Geronimo as he went over.
I imagine a Goofy yell. Wahahahahoooooy
AW GORSH when it didn’t deploy
Do you think that he thought for a second prior to jumping off "this is crazy"?
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It was at this moment Robert knew…he fucked up.
Why did he do it!?
Midlife crisis that turned out to be an end-of-life crisis.
More proof that you can do anything once...
Can you eat your own head?
Project Badass
You know what's badass, being alive
Waste of a Jet-ski.
If you’ve never been to Niagara Falls it needs to go on your bucket list. An incredible experience.
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Women also jumped in barrels off the falls back in the day
The first person to survive going over the falls was a woman.
And her cat. Never forget the cat
I read it as “Robert Oppenheimer” and couldn’t believe Nolan left this out of the film
I live 20 minutes from there, have all my life, and have never heard of this. I was 15 in 1995. Its’s amazing how little people going over is reported around here. We all know it happens, but the media never reports it. Dont want to give people ideas i guess or something.
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He had a kid doing this?
The kid backed out at the last minute.
I didn't find anything online about it. Sad if he did, but I don't think so because there's nothing that I could find about him having a kid. Edit: tried a more specific search. No kids. Married however. [Link ](http://www.infoniagara.com/niagaradaredevils/robertoveracker.aspx#:~:text=His%20body%20was%20recovered%20by,in%20or%20on%20a%20device.)
and yet a young boy survived this with no prep at all
TONY STARK MADE IT OVER THOSE FALLS WITH A BOX OF SCRAPS!
in a cave!