Army parachutist dies after Chicago air show accident

Henry Molski | The Cincinnati Enquirer

Show Caption Hide Caption Army parachutist dies after Chicago air show accident Thirty-two-year-old Army Sgt. 1st Class Corey Hood died Sunday after he collided with a fellow parachutist, and then ran into a building and fell to the ground during the Chicago Air and Water Show. Thousands of spectators were watching.

CINCINNATI — A Cincinnati native and graduate of Lakota West High School injured Saturday while performing a stunt at the Chicago Air & Water show has died as a result of his injuries, the Cook County medical examiner confirmed Sunday evening.

Corey Hood, 32, was taken in critical condition to Northwestern Hospital on Saturday morning and later succumbed to his injuries. Investigator Mario Johnson says that Hood was pronounced dead just after 4 p.m. CT Sunday in Chicago.

Witnesses said at least one of the two men injured on Saturday clipped the top of a high-rise apartment building before falling to the ground in the city's Gold Coast neighborhood.

Hood, a member of the Army Golden Knights parachute team, was performing a stunt known as a "bomb burst" with other Golden Knights and Navy Leap Frog parachutists, Golden Knights spokesperson Donna Dixon told WMAQ-TV. During this stunt, parachutists fall with red smoke trailing from packs and then separate.

Dixon said Hood and another man collided during the stunt. Hood underwent surgery on Saturday and remained in critical condition on Saturday night before Sunday's news that he had died. Hood's family had previously said through Facebook posts that injuries were life-threatening.

Dixon didn't return messages seeking comment Sunday.

Earlier, she told the Chicago Tribune the parachutist had surgery to relieve pressure in his brain caused by a head injury and was in critical condition Sunday.

The second man injured, a member of the Navy Leap Frogs, was treated for a broken leg, Dixon said.

Hood was a graduate of Lakota West High School in 2001, where he played football, according to Enquirer archives. He joined the Army in June of 2001 and began a basic airborne course immediately after his basic and advanced training at Fort Still, Okla., according to Army archives.

Hood recently served as a forward observer as a demonstration parachutist for the Golden Knights' Black Demonstration Team. He had a professional title of Sgt. First Class.

According to his Army biography, Hood had been jumping since 2010 and has logged more than 500 free fall jumps and 75 military static line jumps. He had been awarded with two bronze stars, two meritorious service medals, five Army commendation medals, five Army achievement medals, a master parachutist badge, a pathfinder badge, an air assault badge and the combat action badge.

Hood told his alma mater in 2014 that he wanted to jump to a Lakota West football game some day.

Witnesses at the scene of Saturday's accident told the Chicago Tribune that one of the parachutists hit a building in the upscale lakefront district, but the reports had not been confirmed by fire officials.

Heather Mendenhall told the Tribune that she was watching the show from a rooftop and saw one of the men hit the roof next door with his feet and fall, with his parachute trailing behind him.

"His legs caught the tip of the roof, and then he fell over. It was horrible," she told the newspaper.

She said he looked unconscious as he hit the roof. A maintenance worker on the same roof called paramedics, she said.

"If he was only one foot closer to the roof, the maintenance guy could've grabbed him," Mendenhall said.

The other parachutist was found on North Avenue Beach, near the main viewing area for the show.

Chicago's annual two-day air show draws millions of people to the city each year.

Members of the Navy team are active-duty personnel drawn from forces including the Navy SEALs. Specialists such as the Army and Navy jumpers can reach speeds of up to 180 mph during free fall by pulling their arms to their sides. They typically open their parachutes at around 5,000 feet, joining their canopies together in formation and setting off smoke grenades to send red smoke trailing behind them.

Contributing: The Associated Press