AN EXPERT base jumper died “doing what he loved” after a flawed take-off caused him to crash into a mountain-side.

Rob Haggarty, of Longstock Road, Goodworth Clatford, had reached the Castelletto Della Busazza, in the Italian Dolomites, on June 24, last year, and prepared to complete a jump, an inquest heard today (Tuesday). 

The 47-year-old launched himself in his wingsuit from the 4,000m high mountain but did not propel himself sufficiently to be able to clear a cliff ledge. 

He collided three times with the rock face and the impact caused his canopy to deploy resulting in an “uncontrolled descent”.

The inquest into his death at Winchester Coroner’s Court heard that Mr Haggarty had sustained unsurvivable injuries to his chest and head.

On the day of his death, he had carried out a similar and successful jump.

Dr Angelo Grubisic, friend and lecturer in astronautics and advanced propulsion at the University of Southampton, told the hearing that Mr Haggarty had sung Happy Birthday to him minutes before the accident. 

Dr Grubisic said that the jump required clearing a sloping cliff 20 to 30 metres below the jump point which he said Mr Haggarty failed to do, which sent him spinning forward out of control and causing his parachute to deploy.

He added that pn reviewing drone footage, which was shown to the inquest, Mr Haggarty did not have the right posture when taking off and did not push himself forward enough to clear the ledge.

Dr Grubisic said: “It [the drone footage] very clearly shows the incidental collision with the cliff and then the forward rotation."

Fellow jumper Andreas Podlipnick said that after Mr Haggarty had taken off he heard “two full thuds”, adding: “I saw the canopy turn to the wall, I thought he wasn’t controlling it.”

Another jumper, Matthias Schaffitz, said: “The flight of the canopy was unusual, making a 180 degree turn and going towards the wall. After having made an 180 degree turn, it hit the rock violently twice.”

There are less than 1,000 wing suit base jumpers in the world and Mr Haggarty had carried out around 500 jumps.

Dr Grubisic added: “Me and Rob had been jumping together for about three to four years, he was my best friend in the jumping community.

“Rob was a very, very conservative jumper, always taking great care of his gear, doing the more conservative jump which makes it more surprising that he made a mistake.”

Dr Grubisic also examined Mr Haggarty equipment following his death and said that there were no evidence that he had opened the canopy himself but that it had opened on impact. There was also a scuff on Mr Haggarty’s wingsuit which indicated a “glancing collision” on the top of the cliff.

Rescue crews battled through difficulties in recovering Mr Haggarty because of the extreme steepness of the terrain.

Dr Grubisic said that he had only realised his friend had died after another jumper informed him.

He added: "I was pretty distraught at the point. I grabbed a pair of binoculars, looked back at the mountain, I could see Rob's canopy was on the rock." 

Coroner Simon Burge concluded that the cause of Mr Haggarty’s death was misadventure.

He added: “He went doing what he loved and I suspect that if asked he would have said ‘I want to die doing the sport that I love’ but of course far too soon, he had a life with his wife Joanna and a successful career.”