A photo that sparked alarm on social media over the weekend of a parachute appearing not to deploy near Snohomish was clarified as a standard safety maneuver, not an accident.
The image, shared on the Snohomish County subreddit on Saturday, Aug. 23, showed what looked like a failing canopy near Harvey Airfield. The post drew worried comments, with one witness saying they saw the parachute disappear behind buildings and later noticed an ambulance heading in that direction.
By Monday, Skydive Snohomish owner Mayon Hight released a statement confirming the event involved a licensed skydiver who correctly executed a switch from their main parachute to a reserve.
“This maneuver is not considered an accident, but rather a precautionary action that is part of established skydiving safety protocols,” Hight told Puget Press. “The skydiver identified a minor concern with the deployment of their main canopy and, exercising sound judgment and training, deployed their reserve canopy. Both parachutes functioned as intended, and the skydivers landed safely without incident.”
Hight compared the switch to “changing a spare tire” — uncommon, but expected to happen a few times each year at active drop zones.
The photo’s circulation led to speculation online that a chute had failed entirely and that emergency crews had responded to a crash. While fire units were dispatched around the same time to 107th Avenue SE, about four miles south of Harvey Airfield, that response was unrelated to the parachuting maneuver.
Skydiving equipment is built with multiple redundancies: a main parachute, a reserve parachute, and a federally required automatic activation device designed to open the reserve canopy if the jumper cannot do so themselves.
Hight said the weekend’s precaution underscores “the high level of professionalism and preparedness” both of the skydiver and of Skydive Snohomish’s safety culture.
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