John Carta
Giovanni Carta, also known as John Carta (Alghero, January 7, 1946 – Sacramento, September 29, 1990), was an Italian American airman and parachutist, veteran of the Vietnam War.
He was nicknamed Birdman. Carta was a Base Jumping pioneer and a veteran of the Vietnam War, where he piloted Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopters on rescue missions.[1] He was decorated with the War Cross for Military Valor.
He parachuted onto the roof of the World Trade Center in New York in 1981; and launched himself from a tower of the Verrazano Bridge in 1982.[1][2][3][4][5][6]
In 1986, using a portable ramp, he jumped from the Foresthill Bridge in California on a motorcycle then deployed his parachute, leaving the motorcycle to smash to pieces in the canyon below.[7]
He jumped from the Leaning Tower of Pisa, in Italy, and from George Washington Bridge in New York, in 1987.[8]
He experimented with bat wings in many of his parachute launches.
On August 16, 1990, he broke his back after his parachute failed during a jump from an office building in Oakland; he was charged with trespass but the charge was dropped due to his injuries.[9][10]
Carta was killed on September 29, 1990, when the Lockheed PV-2 Harpoon in which he was a passenger crashed during an impromptu aerobatics display.[11][12]
Bibliography
- Jordan Fisher Smith, Nature noir, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2005. ISBN 0618224165 ISBN 9780618224166
- Michael Abrams, Birdmen, Batmen, And Skyflyers, 2006, Harmony Books. ISBN 1400054915 ISBN 9781400054916
- Massimiliano Fois e Raffaele Sari Bozzolo, Un'altra Alghero, 2008 Panoramika editrice. ISBN 8889486104, ISBN 9788889486108
References
- 1 2 The Kingman Daily Miner, Man jumps from airplane onto World Trade Center tower, 11 September 2011
- ↑ NBC, PARACHUTIST JOHN CARTA JUMPS OFF WORLD TRADE CENTER, September 1981
- ↑ Media Source Entertainment, Sky Circus Trailer, 1987
- ↑ Chutist Lands Unhurt Atop the Trade Center, New York Times, 11 September 1981
- ↑ The Observerer, Jump was worth it, parachutist concludes, 11 September 1981
- ↑ The Hour, Parachutist's Next View May Be From Behind Prison Bars, 9 December 1982
- ↑ Jordan Fisher Smith, Nature Noir, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2005
- ↑ Boat rescues chutist after his bridge leap, Associated Press, 16 March 1987
- ↑ AP News
- ↑ Times Daily, charges won't be filed against parachuter, 19 August 1990
- ↑ Eighth Body Recovered From Plane Wreckage, Others Identified retrieved 31 October 2013
- ↑ NTSb accident report, PV-2 Harpoon N7250C retrieved 31 October 2013