Investigation blames human error in search and rescue technician's falling death

A Royal Canadian Air Force investigation concluded that human error was to blame in the death of 31-year-old Master Cpl. Alfred Barr. 

Barr, who was originally from Lethbridge, Alta., died in March 2017 during a routine training exercise near Yorkton, Sask. 

After jumping out of a plane, Barr appeared to have been caught up the the aircraft's slipstream, according to the final report. That caused his left leg to move upwards and his body to roll slightly to the right.

The parachute did not deploy properly, the report says. 

"Evidence strongly suggests that the main canopy suspension lines became severely twisted. This resulted in an uncontrollable parachute that entered a rapidly descending clockwise spiral," the report reads.

Barr was seen trying to untangle the twisted lines. He did not cut the faulty chute and deploy his back up parachute due to the fact that "he likely lost situational awareness of his altitude and descent rate."

Barr died upon impact.

The investigation did not find any faults in the equipment. 

Preventative measures taken

Several preventative measures were implemented after Barr's death, including capturing all Search and Rescue Tech parachute dispatches on video "to aid in individual technique assessment and, if necessary, incident investigation" and painting exit lines on certain ramps to help people jumping out of a plane be as close to the centerline as possible. 

Barr lived in Winnipeg with his fiancée, Steffi Hempel.