The man who was stuck for hours on Wednesday morning in an antenna mast in Oss is the well -known base jumper Ronald Overdijk. With more than a thousand parachute jumps from buildings and other high points, the Waaghals is ‘a veteran in base jumping’. In addition, Overdijk is involved in the Royal Dutch Association for Aviation (KNVVL) with regulations around base jumping, although he seems to have exceeded rules in Oss. He was arrested for entering private property.
As an account manager parachuting and ‘Head of Operations’, the base jumper has been involved in airspace stores and regulations for more than thirty years for the KNVVL. All the more remarkable is the fact that he was arrested after his jump in Oss for entering private property.
“Legally, parachuting is arranged. There are no laws for base jumping. That is almost nowhere in the world,” De Basejumper told itself in 2021 itself RTL News. “We keep it tidy, don’t let any mess and don’t break things. You have to climb, jump and get out.”
Nevertheless, after his stunt in the Antennemast in Oss, Overdijk was arrested by the police. “The parachutist entered a private property and that is not allowed without the owner’s permission,” a police spokesperson said earlier. The police are in contact with the owner of the radio tower.
A lot of experience
On The website of the association For air sports and aviation enthusiasts, Overdijk told in 2020 that, in addition to his work, he would like to dared himself and has already done so in many places. Only Antarctica is still on his list. “In the meantime, I have already landed with a parachute on all other continents,” he said at the time.
In De Telegraaf He said that his most beautiful jumps from the Eiffel Tower were in Paris and in the polar region of Canada. In Morocco things went wrong when he ended up in the water with his parachute. Just like in Oss, De Waaghals remained unharmed.
The base jumper has also made many jumps in its own country. In 2019 he jumped from the Euromast in Rotterdam and told Rhine that he had made 1450 jumps. Many jumps were of tall buildings.
Danger
It is not clear how it could go wrong on Wednesday, despite his much experience. The base jumper is interrogated by the police and investigation is being done.
Overdijk knows that the extreme sport is not without dangers. “You have less response time,” he told RTL News. According to him, if you jump out of an airplane, you have more time to respond and open your parachute than at a base jump. In addition, according to him, the object you jump from is an extra risk. “You have that behind you. If you come across it, you have a problem. You also have a smaller landing place,” he said.
Despite the dangers, the base jumper does not seem to be put off. Whether that changes after his arrest is not clear. “We are investigating whether the man is being prosecuted before entering private property or other violations such as destruction. The latter as it appears that there have been destruction and there are consequences for the mast,” said a police spokesperson.