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Skydiving icon dies during jump

By JODIE TILLMAN
Published January 22, 2007

ZEPHYRHILLS - At 68, Johnny Gates was no rookie skydiver.

But on Saturday, something happened to the 25-year veteran of the sport as he went out of a plane over Skydive City. He made his last dive.

Captured on the video of a fellow skydiver was a strange motion, said TK Hayes, manager of Skydive City.

It looked like Gates was twitching.

"It was an out-of-the-ordinary movement," Hayes said.

A secondary parachute, which is calibrated to release automatically at 800 feet, did kick in, he said. But it doesn't appear that Gates ever activated any of his primary gear.

"There was no attempt to deploy," Hayes said. "He didn't pull anything."

Pasco County Fire and Rescue said Gates was not breathing when they reached him.

A medical examiner will determine Gates' cause of death. So far police and the skydiving center's management say they can only speculate that Gates died before landing, from some sudden physical condition such as a heart attack or stroke.

Gates, who lived in Lakeland, traveled the country to skydive and had 1,000 jumps under his belt, Hayes said.

He was an outgoing member of the Zephyrhills skydiving community. He organized jumps, and helped put together the July 4 fireworks display at the center every year. He had a trailer near the drop zone, where he often invited friends to hang out.

He was one of the older jumpers at Skydive City, Hayes said, but he never seemed to lack any vivacity. "He was an icon."

Jodie Tillman can be reached at 727 869-6247 or jtillman@sptimes.com.

[Last modified January 22, 2007, 00:29:08]