A confronting video captures a skydiver’s wide grin and obvious joy moments before he and his instructor became entangled with a plane and fell to their deaths during a jump.
Experienced instructor Stephen Hoare, 37, and his tandem passenger Alex Welling, 32, died while skydiving at Goulburn airport in southern NSW in 2021.
SafeWork NSW charged Goulburn Flight Training Centre and its sole director Attilio Giovanni Ferrara, known as John Ferrara, with two counts each of breaching workplace safety duties.
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The flight school and its director were found guilty of the safety breaches in NSW District Court on Tuesday.
The prosecutor had established the elements of the offences beyond a reasonable doubt, Judge Andrew Scotting found.
Ferrara was not in court when the decision was handed down.
He will face sentencing at a later date.
During the 10-day trial in September 2025, the court was told the skydivers’ equipment had snagged on a metal step that was recently installed on the Cessna plane.
A short GoPro video taken by a third solo skydiver during the June 27 flight showed Mr Welling grinning as he moved towards the open door of the plane while strapped to Mr Hoare.
Mr Welling was filmed sticking his tongue out at the camera as he and Mr Hoare edge out of the open door for a few seconds before they attempt to launch.
Instead of a smooth deployment, the footage shows a black strap getting caught on the protruding step, leaving the pair frantically dangling upside-down mid-air.
The pilot later attempted several manoeuvres to free the men, including flying low over the airport while staff on the ground stood on top of a four-wheel drive to try and grab them.
The footage was released on Tuesday over the objections of the skydivers’ families after Judge Scotting ruled it could serve to prevent future tragedies.
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