The skydiving community is mourning the death of Bob Hallett, the well-known owner of Skydive DeLand, who died in a two-vehicle crash Tuesday morning.
So, what happened? And who was Bob Hallett?
The crash
The Florida Highway Patrol said that at 7:52 a.m. Tuesday, May 13, Hallett, 74, was southbound in his Toyota Tacoma on Shell Road west of DeLand when he failed to yield to traffic at a stop sign. He turned left to head east on SR 44 and was hit in the left side of his vehicle by a Dodge Ram 2500 pickup that was headed west on SR 44 (New York Avenue).
Hallett died at the scene of the crash, just 2.4 miles from his North Shell Road home. The occupants of the Dodge Ram suffered non-life-threatening injuries, the Florida Highway Patrol said.
Bob Hallet, a skydiving pioneer
According to Kurt Gaebel, the owner of the National Skydiving League, and Volusia County councilman Don Dempsey, Hallett was a pioneer of skydiving who made DeLand the skydiving capital of the world.
Gaebel’s business organizes and hosts world championship events in skydiving attracting sky divers from all over the world to DeLand. And it was all possible because of Hallett’s skydiving vision, he said.
“That truly is his legacy,” Gaebel said in a telephone interview Tuesday. “Not everyone has done what he did for skydiving.”
Dempsey, a pilot like Hallett, said Hallett made DeLand a worldwide skydiving destination and was well-known to his fellow fliers.
“He was a great guy,” Dempsey said. “He was well-liked in the aviation community.”
Some history
Hallett started the skydiving business, Skydive DeLand, with a parachute maker, Bill Booth, and another partner Tommy Piras, in 1982, according to a News-Journal story. Hallett would later buy out the partners.
Skydiving was a popular sport in DeLand even before that. It started at the DeLand Municipal Airport in 1959. DeLand is well-known as the worldwide center for parachute equipment development and manufacturing, as well as the development of training technology, both for military and civilian applications, according to the company’s website.
“This setting allowed some of the best minds to come together and expand on training programs used around the world, Accelerated Freefall and Tandem skydiving, which were both developed and tested right here in DeLand,” the company website states.
Skydive DeLand home to national and world champions
Since the DeLand skydiving location opened at 1600 Flightline Blvd., it has become the center for serious competitive teams, a number of which have become world champions. Skydive DeLand is also a popular host drop zone for numerous state, national, and world record-setting formation skydives, beginning with the first 72-person formation in 1983.
“Over the years, Skydive DeLand has been home to countless legendary National and World Champions and record holders,” according to the website. “We established a unique environment to support the advancement of training for beginners and competitors.”
Resilient in face of tragedy
Over its years of operations, Skydive DeLand has experienced its share of accidents, including a skydiving transport plane crash and skydiving accidents, like hard landings and malfunctioning parachutes, that have resulted in injuries and deaths.
In October 2005, a million-dollar jump plane crashed, injuring the pilot. The plane stalled and crashed shortly after takeoff, failing to get more than 50 to 75 feet off the ground, witnesses said.
On board the jump aircraft were 10 skydivers from DeLand, Daytona, Denmark, Brazil and Spain. Ambulances took seven of the sky divers to area hospitals to treat neck, back and leg injuries.
According to News-Journal reports, 2005 was Hallett’s toughest year. The plane crash occurred after other skydiving accidents that claimed the life of a Czech skydiver, and another skydiver who died after he collided with the airplane from which he jumped.
But in the wake of those tragedies, Hallett was back at work the day after the plane crash, preparing skydivers for jumps.
“In the last few months, I’ve had the most devastating experiences,” Hallett is quoted as saying in an October 2005 News-Journal report.
He said then that the skydivers’ loyalty would ensure the survival of Skydive DeLand.
“They’re not gonna let a blemish like this on my record stand in the way of what these 23 years have accomplished,” Hallett said then.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: The tragic death of Skydive DeLand owner Bob Hallett: Here’s what we know
Reporting by Patricio G. Balona, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
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