In 1966, Brian Schubert and a buddy strapped parachutes to their backs and leaped off Yosemite's 3,000-foot-high El Capitan cliff -- and unwittingly inspired the worldwide extreme sport of base jumping.
A blurry snapshot captured the stunt that broke both of Schubert's legs. At the time, people who knew parachutes thought the two guys were nuts.
Schubert spent the next decades in anonymity, raising a family and working as a Pomona police officer. He retired as a respected lieutenant.
On Saturday, Schubert strapped on a parachute and made his first jump in 40 years. Before 145,000 spectators, his daughter and his old El Capitan jumping partner, Schubert leaped off a bridge to his death.
He was 66 and known as a legend by fans one-third his age. "They treated us like the sky kings," said Mike Pelkey, 66, of Simi Valley, who made the famous El Capitan jump with him.
No one knows why Schubert didn't open his parachute until late in the jump. There are conflicting opinions about whether he was adequately trained for Saturday's leap.
Video shown nationwide captured Schubert leaping off an 876-foot bridge into the New River Gorge in Fayetteville, W.Va., during an event known as Bridge Day. He hit the water with a partly opened chute and died on impact. The National Park Service and the Fayette County Sheriff's Department were investigating.
"Why Brian didn't open is such a total unknown," said Pelkey, who was standing above his old friend on the ramp, ready to jump next. As Schubert tumbled, Pelkey said the crowd screamed "Throw! Throw!" urging him to throw open the chute.
"No one would have ever dreamed that after the expert one-on-one training with the best ... that this would happen," Pelkey said.
Schubert's daughter, Cynthia Lee, 42, of Alta Loma, said his family was proud that he had decided to do the jump.
"He had lived for this jump for the last three or four months. He was so excited," she said. "My father died with a smile on his face because he has so much passion for what he loved -- and that's our saving grace."
She was on the telephone with her older sister, Tina Lindebaum, 44, of Upland, who had gone with their father to Bridge Day. Tina gave her an account of what was happening as the events occurred:
"She said they just announced Dad is in line to jump and the media are going wild."
Tina then hung up on her sister, only to call back minutes later, saying: "Pray for our father's peace."
