DRUG TESTS URGED FOR SKYDIVING INSTRUCTORS

In the aftermath of the skydiving deaths last month of Sacramento woman and
her tandem jumping instructor, investigators with the local Federal
Aviation Administration are recommending that all tandem skydiving
instructors in the United States be required to undergo mandatory drug
tests.

The recommendation is part of an official FAA report on the deaths April 18
of Stephanie Ann Cotter, 26, and her skydiving instructor Seth Blake, 28.
They died while jumping in tandem from an airplane at 9,000 feet after
their parachute -- for unknown reasons -- failed to open.

Deaths are not extraordinarily rare in skydiving, but the accident last
month at the SkyDance SkyDiving Company in Yolo County has become
controversial since Blake's autopsy report revealed he had traces of
marijuana in his blood and a 0.04 percent blood alcohol level.

FAA regulations -- the only governmental oversight of skydiving -- forbid
alcohol or drug use by skydivers or their instructors. But the FAA does not
require drug testing of the jumpers or their teachers.

At high altitudes, alcohol and drugs can severely hinder reflex responses.

"I feel very strongly that this should be mandatory and regulated," said
Robert Cotter, Stephanie's father who has said he and his wife, Edith, will
commit the rest of their lives to increasing governmental oversight of
skydiving.

"It took my kid's death to do this," Cotter said.

Tim Pile, a spokesman for the FAA's Western region, cautioned that
recommendations in official investigations must travel through many
channels before being adopted -- and many don't make it.

"Something like this would be controversial. There would be opposition,"
said Pile.

If officials in Washington chose to pursue the change, he said, they must
solicit comment across the country. Managers at SkyDance SkyDiving
adamantly maintained that Blake was neither intoxicated nor high the
morning of his fatal jump.

"We have a very clear rule that we don't tolerate that here," said Ray
Ferrell, co-director of Sky- Dance SkyDiving. "Seth had been on duty since
8 o'clock that morning and there was no alcohol apparent."

Owners of the skydiving company speculated that Blake's allergy medication
could have triggered a positive reading for alcohol, a contention that
officials at the Yolo County Coroner's Office have declined to comment on.

Cotter filed suit earlier this month against SkyDance SkyDiving and its
parent company Prestar, charging that the owners and managers of the
company were negligent in allowing his daughter to jump with an instructor
who was under the influence of alcohol and drugs.

The FAA investigative report on the deaths of Cotter and Blake has not yet
been made public, but investigators within the Sacramento office of the FAA
said Wednesday that the final report will include the mandatory drug
testing recommendation. Cotter said he hopes the proposed rule will be
adopted sooner, rather than later.

"Clerks at the hardware store where my wife and I shop have to be drug
tested before being hired," he said. Ferrell said SkyDance SkyDiving is
looking into adopting a company policy of drug testing employees.

Copyright ) 1998 The Sacramento Bee

Checked-by: jwjohnson@netmagic.net (Joel W. Johnson)