<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The bereaved father of a </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/skydiving" rel="" target="" title="skydiver"><span>skydiver</span></a><span> killed after getting tangled on a plane says he does not hold a grudge against the man convicted over the accident.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Experienced instructor Stephen Hoare, 37, and his tandem passenger, Alex Welling, 32, died while skydiving at Goulburn </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/airport/9" rel="" target="" title="airport"><span>airport</span></a><span> in </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/new-south-wales" rel="" target="" title="NSW's"><span>NSW's</span></a><span> south on June 27, 2021.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/skydiver-death-goulburn-chilling-footage-shows-skydiver-joy-before-death-plunge/92f1ea9c-d97f-465e-b5ed-520cf479340d" rel="" target="" title="pair fell about 100 metres"><span>pair fell about 100 metres</span></a><span> to their deaths after their equipment got snagged on a step that had recently been installed on the Cessna plane.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>LIVE UPDATES:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/us-israel-iran-war-live-updates-april-10-donald-trump-latest-world-news-headlines/98a0862e-af66-442c-a232-f61a1ac9df60" target="_blank" title=" Israel condemned for Lebanon attacks"><strong><span>Israel condemned for Lebanon attacks</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>SafeWork NSW charged Goulburn Flight Training Centre and its sole director, Attilio Giovanni Ferrara, known as John Ferrara, with two counts each of breaching workplace safety duties.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>They were found guilty in the NSW District </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/courts" rel="" target="" title="Court"><span>Court</span></a><span> in March.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Judge Andrew Scotting found the fabricated step was an "obvious and dangerous snag hazard".</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/no-animosity-skydiving-instructors-grieving-dad/42403b66-0932-447a-ae3a-d72baed20c4b" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>During a sentencing hearing today, Hoare's father, Frank, looked across the sparse courtroom to Ferrara.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Hoare said he held "no animosity" towards Ferrara or Jim Czerwinski, the pilot who installed the step and flew the plane that day.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"In the end, there was no intent," Hoare said quietly.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The men's families waited four years and 10 months for answers about the accident, a delay that felt like a dismissal of their lost lives, Hoare said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Losing our son ... has shattered our lives in ways that words have never fully captured," Hoare said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"He was not just a name or statistic; he was our son and our joy.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Every day [since] his death has been filled with a silence that should not exist and a grief that does not lessen with time."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/australia-oil-crisis-prime-minister-anthony-albanese-lands-in-singapore-on-mission-to-cement-oil-supply/0e9b8d55-8bc1-4e4b-a86a-d64af25b635a" target="" title="PM lands in Singapore on mission to cement fuel supply"><strong><span>PM lands in Singapore on mission to cement fuel supply</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Hoare hoped the accident would lead to meaningful safety changes in the skydiving industry.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He called on the state coroner to hold an inquest so that formal recommendations could be made.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>SafeWork's barrister, Darien Nagle, urged the judge to consider the scale of the avoidable tragedy.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The risk was avoidable, the risk was known," Nagle said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Evidence at the trial included a short GoPro video taken by a third solo skydiver, showing Welling grinning as he moved towards the open door of the plane while strapped to Hoare.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The footage showed a black strap getting caught on the protruding step, leaving the pair frantically dangling upside-down mid-air.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The pilot attempted several manoeuvres to free the men, including flying low over the airport while staff on the ground stood on top of a four-wheel drive to try and grab them.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The men fell when the plane returned to a higher altitude.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Ferrara made a "sincere and unqualified" apology to the men's families in an affidavit read to the court.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Judge Scotting offered his condolences, saying he lost his sister in tragic circumstances.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I understand that pain perhaps better than you might appreciate," the judge said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Ferrara will be sentenced on April 17.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/bankstown-news-search-underway-after-convicted-gang-rapist-escapes-from-sydney-hospital/d1b7ad96-2164-4afa-b8fb-c8e8095bcb2d" rel="" target="" title="Manhunt continues for convicted gang rapist who escaped hospital in Sydney's south-west"><strong><span>Manhunt continues for convicted gang rapist who escaped hospital in Sydney's south-west</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><em><span>NEVER MISS A STORY:</span></em></strong><span> </span><em><span>Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across 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