Heartbroken partner of mother-of-four, 48, who died in tandem skydive tragedy reveals he wants to make the same jump in her memory
First-time jumpers at –Skydive Buzz gather in a small hangar at Dunkeswell Aerodrome, a Second World War naval base on Devon's Blackdown Hills, to watch a 15-minute safety video.
This takes them through what will happen: the position to adopt when jumping out of the plane; the hand gestures used by their tandem instructors; how it will feel when they freefall for the 60 seconds before their parachute opens.
The group – typically around six skydivers, each already securely harnessed to their instructors – then make their way across the Tarmac to the Beech 99 light aircraft, known for its fast ascent time.
Once inside, it takes between 12 and 15 minutes for the plane to get to 15,000ft. Then a hatch at the back opens and, with the 'drop zone' a mere speck in a patchwork of green fields below, the pairs jump, one by one, into thin air.
On the morning of Friday, June 13, Belinda Taylor and instructor Adam Harrison were among them.
Belinda, 48, had never jumped before, but was an adrenaline junkie who would try anything once. The skydive had been a gift from her boyfriend Scott Armstrong, who was watching from the ground with his nine-year-old son.
Adam, 30, was a veteran skydiver, with eight years' experience as a tandem instructor; a consummate professional with a passion for the skies.
But within two minutes of exiting the plane, both Belinda, a mother of four and grandmother of two, and Adam were dead.
Having fallen to earth at 120mph, their bodies were found, horrifyingly, by Scott in a nearby field. Their yellow-and-black jumpsuits were still attached together.
Quite what happened – at that velocity, it would have taken just 102 seconds to reach the ground – is unknown, and the subject of an investigation. There are conflicting reports about whether their parachute was deployed, and police are believed to be analysing video footage from a camera that was attached to Adam.
Seasoned skydivers have questioned why the reserve parachute – fitted as standard during every UK tandem jump, and triggered automatically when a skydiver descends too quickly or below a safe altitude – apparently failed to open.
Speaking exclusively to the Mail, Belinda's family – including her ex-husband, Bachir Baaklini, and eldest son, Connor Bowles – have demanded 'justice'.
'Her kids want to know why their mum went to do something for fun and never made it back home,' said Bachir, 46, a restaurant owner who was married to Belinda from 2003 to 2013. 'She was supposed to be safe. We need to know what happened.'
Scott, her heartbroken partner, told the Mail that Belinda was 'my everything', adding: 'I don't know who I am without her.'
Traumatised by Belinda's loss, and clearly still in shock from finding her body, Scott says he is a 'shell without her'.
Astonishingly, he revealed he wants to do a skydive in her memory – at the same place where she fell to her death.
'She was the last jump before it shut [Skydive Buzz has been closed since the incident],' he said. 'So I'd like to be the first jump when it opens back up again. I'd do it for her. If she was brave enough to jump out of a plane, then I want to do it, too.'
And while Belinda's 20-year-old son, Elias, said she had joked beforehand about how the jump was due to take place on Friday the 13th, supposedly an 'unlucky' day, skydiving deaths are extremely rare.
Globally, there is about one fatality per 100,000 skydives, and in Britain the figure is even lower. The British Parachute Association said that between 2001 and 2020, there were no tandem skydive fatalities. Due to the presence of an instructor – who must have completed 500 tandem jumps before qualifying – tandem skydives are much safer than solo ones. The chance of spraining an ankle during a tandem jump is less than one in 2,500.
The statistics are reassuring but the Mail can reveal there was an added challenge for Belinda – she was partially sighted and had only recently given up using guide dogs, instead relying on her partner's support. She also suffered from fibromyalgia, causing chronic pain and fatigue.
Bachir, who had two children, Emily and Elias, with Belinda, and became a stepfather to her older sons, Connor, 27, and Jamie, 25, said he met Belinda when he was working in London as a barber.
'She was a bit crazy. She was up for anything. She was a life-lover.'
Already a mother-of-two, separated from her sons' father, Belinda was struggling to juggle parenting two young boys with her job as a dental nurse. She retrained as a masseuse and reflexologist, a more flexible role.
Scott said he and Belinda had lived with his son and her daughter, Emily, 13, in Totnes, and that she was determined to wring every ounce of enjoyment out of life. 'She was an absolute nutcase who loved exploring. We moved to Devon three years ago and we got rid of our TVs, [had] no computers, nothing. All we wanted was to be outside, seeing the world together.'
After the jump, Belinda had been due to join Connor's birthday celebration.
Scott bought the £219 skydive as a gift for his girlfriend; a 'thank you' present, he said, for letting his son move into their home.
'They were the last group to go up,' he recalled. 'I was using binoculars and saw them all jump and noticed that one chute hadn't opened. I was freaking out. They disappeared from view, and I jumped in my car with my lad and raced across the fields.
'I found Belinda and the instructor lying there, still together, both clearly dead. It was a horrific sight.'
At around 12.30 pm, Bachir got a phone call from Scott.
Devastated, Bachir relayed the news to his sons. Unable to drive due to the shock, he and his wife got on the first train to Devon. 'I couldn't stop crying all weekend,' he says. 'None of us could.'
Skydive Buzz, which did not respond to enquiries from the Mail, said it was 'heartbroken' by the incident. 'Safety is, and always has been, our top priority,' declared the company, which was originally called Skydive UK and has been operating since 1999.
Devon and Cornwall Police said 'enquiries remain ongoing'. But over a week after this devastating tragedy, very little information has emerged. There is no suggestion of any fault, by the instructor, the jump team or the company.
But questions remain over how this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity ended in two deaths.
Adam Harrison, who lived in Bournemouth, had worked at Skydive Buzz since September 2021, and was studying to be a chiropractor. He has been remembered this week for his 'warmth, openness and positivity'.
A skydiver, who did not want to be named, did a jump with Adam last August and described him as 'an incredible instructor'.
'I'd never done anything like it before and I was feeling nervous,' she told the Mail. 'I warmed to him straight away. He was very professional. Everything felt completely safe.'
Reviews of Skydive Buzz are equally full of praise, though some claim that 'hard selling' is used to persuade jumpers to upgrade from the cheaper 7,000ft jump (£149) to 15,000ft. 'They spoke down to those who had only purchased the 7,000ft jump,' reads a one-star review.
Belinda had originally been signed up to do the 7,000ft jump, but decided at the last minute to do the 15,000ft one. There is no suggestion the height of the skydive contributed to what happened.
It is likely to be several months before Belinda's loved ones know the truth. On Monday, they will meet to discuss the details of her funeral – and what this extraordinary woman with an undimmable zest for life might have wanted.
'To be honest, I'm dreading what's ahead,' says Scott. 'None of this was the plan.'
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Daily Mail
12 hours ago
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Heartbroken partner of mother-of-four, 48, who died in tandem skydive tragedy reveals he wants to make the same jump in her memory
First-time jumpers at –Skydive Buzz gather in a small hangar at Dunkeswell Aerodrome, a Second World War naval base on Devon's Blackdown Hills, to watch a 15-minute safety video. This takes them through what will happen: the position to adopt when jumping out of the plane; the hand gestures used by their tandem instructors; how it will feel when they freefall for the 60 seconds before their parachute opens. The group – typically around six skydivers, each already securely harnessed to their instructors – then make their way across the Tarmac to the Beech 99 light aircraft, known for its fast ascent time. Once inside, it takes between 12 and 15 minutes for the plane to get to 15,000ft. Then a hatch at the back opens and, with the 'drop zone' a mere speck in a patchwork of green fields below, the pairs jump, one by one, into thin air. On the morning of Friday, June 13, Belinda Taylor and instructor Adam Harrison were among them. Belinda, 48, had never jumped before, but was an adrenaline junkie who would try anything once. The skydive had been a gift from her boyfriend Scott Armstrong, who was watching from the ground with his nine-year-old son. Adam, 30, was a veteran skydiver, with eight years' experience as a tandem instructor; a consummate professional with a passion for the skies. But within two minutes of exiting the plane, both Belinda, a mother of four and grandmother of two, and Adam were dead. Having fallen to earth at 120mph, their bodies were found, horrifyingly, by Scott in a nearby field. Their yellow-and-black jumpsuits were still attached together. Quite what happened – at that velocity, it would have taken just 102 seconds to reach the ground – is unknown, and the subject of an investigation. There are conflicting reports about whether their parachute was deployed, and police are believed to be analysing video footage from a camera that was attached to Adam. Seasoned skydivers have questioned why the reserve parachute – fitted as standard during every UK tandem jump, and triggered automatically when a skydiver descends too quickly or below a safe altitude – apparently failed to open. Speaking exclusively to the Mail, Belinda's family – including her ex-husband, Bachir Baaklini, and eldest son, Connor Bowles – have demanded 'justice'. 'Her kids want to know why their mum went to do something for fun and never made it back home,' said Bachir, 46, a restaurant owner who was married to Belinda from 2003 to 2013. 'She was supposed to be safe. We need to know what happened.' Scott, her heartbroken partner, told the Mail that Belinda was 'my everything', adding: 'I don't know who I am without her.' Traumatised by Belinda's loss, and clearly still in shock from finding her body, Scott says he is a 'shell without her'. Astonishingly, he revealed he wants to do a skydive in her memory – at the same place where she fell to her death. 'She was the last jump before it shut [Skydive Buzz has been closed since the incident],' he said. 'So I'd like to be the first jump when it opens back up again. I'd do it for her. If she was brave enough to jump out of a plane, then I want to do it, too.' And while Belinda's 20-year-old son, Elias, said she had joked beforehand about how the jump was due to take place on Friday the 13th, supposedly an 'unlucky' day, skydiving deaths are extremely rare. Globally, there is about one fatality per 100,000 skydives, and in Britain the figure is even lower. The British Parachute Association said that between 2001 and 2020, there were no tandem skydive fatalities. Due to the presence of an instructor – who must have completed 500 tandem jumps before qualifying – tandem skydives are much safer than solo ones. The chance of spraining an ankle during a tandem jump is less than one in 2,500. The statistics are reassuring but the Mail can reveal there was an added challenge for Belinda – she was partially sighted and had only recently given up using guide dogs, instead relying on her partner's support. She also suffered from fibromyalgia, causing chronic pain and fatigue. Bachir, who had two children, Emily and Elias, with Belinda, and became a stepfather to her older sons, Connor, 27, and Jamie, 25, said he met Belinda when he was working in London as a barber. 'She was a bit crazy. She was up for anything. She was a life-lover.' Already a mother-of-two, separated from her sons' father, Belinda was struggling to juggle parenting two young boys with her job as a dental nurse. She retrained as a masseuse and reflexologist, a more flexible role. Scott said he and Belinda had lived with his son and her daughter, Emily, 13, in Totnes, and that she was determined to wring every ounce of enjoyment out of life. 'She was an absolute nutcase who loved exploring. We moved to Devon three years ago and we got rid of our TVs, [had] no computers, nothing. All we wanted was to be outside, seeing the world together.' After the jump, Belinda had been due to join Connor's birthday celebration. Scott bought the £219 skydive as a gift for his girlfriend; a 'thank you' present, he said, for letting his son move into their home. 'They were the last group to go up,' he recalled. 'I was using binoculars and saw them all jump and noticed that one chute hadn't opened. I was freaking out. They disappeared from view, and I jumped in my car with my lad and raced across the fields. 'I found Belinda and the instructor lying there, still together, both clearly dead. It was a horrific sight.' At around 12.30 pm, Bachir got a phone call from Scott. Devastated, Bachir relayed the news to his sons. Unable to drive due to the shock, he and his wife got on the first train to Devon. 'I couldn't stop crying all weekend,' he says. 'None of us could.' Skydive Buzz, which did not respond to enquiries from the Mail, said it was 'heartbroken' by the incident. 'Safety is, and always has been, our top priority,' declared the company, which was originally called Skydive UK and has been operating since 1999. Devon and Cornwall Police said 'enquiries remain ongoing'. But over a week after this devastating tragedy, very little information has emerged. There is no suggestion of any fault, by the instructor, the jump team or the company. But questions remain over how this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity ended in two deaths. Adam Harrison, who lived in Bournemouth, had worked at Skydive Buzz since September 2021, and was studying to be a chiropractor. He has been remembered this week for his 'warmth, openness and positivity'. A skydiver, who did not want to be named, did a jump with Adam last August and described him as 'an incredible instructor'. 'I'd never done anything like it before and I was feeling nervous,' she told the Mail. 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