Attempted murder: Skydive soldier held after wife suffered horrific injuries when both parachutes failed

• Victoria Cilliers, 39, survived 4,000ft fall after her parachutes failed to open 
• Her husband Emile has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder
• Detectives are investigating whether Victoria's parachute was sabotaged  
• British Army sergeant's wife suffered multiple serious injuries in jump

 British Army sergeant has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after his skydiving wife’s parachute failed to open, causing her to plummet towards the ground at 100mph.

Experienced parachutist Victoria Cilliers, 39, suffered multiple serious injuries including broken ribs, a broken collarbone, a broken leg and spinal injuries when her main and reserve canopies malfunctioned during a solo jump on Easter Sunday.

Victoria’s South African-born husband Emile, 35, an instructor with the Royal Army Physical Training Corps attached to the Royal Engineers, was arrested after police were alerted to the possibility her parachute could have been sabotaged before the jump.

Detectives have appealed for information and witnesses after vital parts of the parachute known as ‘slinks’ were found to be missing after the incident at Netheravon airfield on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire. 

The ‘slinks’ are strips of material which connect the jumper’s harness to the canopies. Without them a parachute cannot function properly.

When The Mail on Sunday approached Ms Cilliers at her home last week she hobbled to the door on crutches and wearing a body brace. 

In a faint voice she declined to comment, but The Mail on Sunday has been passed a posting she made on Facebook which read: ‘Where do I go from here? I have no idea where to start. It is a hundred times harder as I am housebound and cannot care independently for my children due to my current injuries. I have had a lot of support from the police/medical chain/social work but I really need friends too.’

At around 4.15pm on Easter Sunday Victoria, a qualified parachute instructor, jumped alone from a Cessna Caravan light aircraft at 4,000ft. 

According to sources at the airfield she deployed her main canopy at 3,000ft but sections did not unfold, causing her to spin violently, a terrifying ordeal known as ‘going down the plughole’.

+8

+8

Adrenaline junkies: Victoria Cilliers (circled), who survived the 4,000ft fall, in the plane before an earlier jump

Ordeal: Victoria and Emile Cilliers at a formal occasion before she was injured when her parachutes failed during a skydive

As an experienced jumper Victoria then released her main chute and pulled a handle on her left-shoulder strap to activate her reserve canopy. But airfield sources say her reserve canopy also suffered a malfunction caused by the missing ‘slinks’, but this has not been confirmed by police. 

Although the reserve chute had not fully deployed she was able to use her skill to slow her descent to an estimated 30mph and to avoid landing on a tarmacked road. Instead she crash-landed in a field.

Medics sprinted to where she was lying fully conscious but in agony. She was taken to hospital in Southampton by helicopter and spent the next three weeks there.

Experts from the Army Parachuting Association and the British Parachute Association have investigated the very rare double malfunction. BPA chief Tony Butler confirmed its report had been sent to Wiltshire police, adding: ‘It would be inappropriate for us to comment further.‘

Victoria told friends that Emile had moved out of the home they shared in Amesbury, Wiltshire, with their children, Lily, three, and newborn son Ethan. The couple wed in South Africa in 2011.

+8

+8

Victoria’s (left) South African-born husband Emile (right) was arrested after police were alerted to the possibility her parachute could have been sabotaged before the jump

+8

Vital parts of the parachute known as slinks were found to be missing after the incident at Netheravon airfield on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire (pictured)

+8

The incident happened on Sunday April 4 at Netheravon Airfield near Salisbury (pictured)

+8

Two sources say Emile signed out an Army parachute from the storeroom at the airfield on his wife’s behalf on Easter Saturday, the day before the incident

Airfield sources say Victoria had not been able to use her personal parachute on the day because it had not been unpacked and inspected within the last six months, as rules require, so borrowed a parachute from the stores at Netheravon.

Two sources say Emile signed out an Army parachute from the storeroom at the airfield on his wife’s behalf on Easter Saturday, the day before the incident. But this has not been confirmed by police. The Army storekeeper declined to comment.

The Ministry of Defence also declined to comment but Detective Inspector Paul Franklin of Wiltshire police said: ‘This woman would have been dead if her chute hadn’t partially opened. This meant her descent was slowed enough for her to survive the fall.

‘We were alerted to concerns over what had happened by the parachute club and as a result instigated an investigation. In particular, we are looking for the slinks, which may have been removed and discarded.’