Firm Denies Role in Bungee Jumping Tragedy

SAN FERNANDO — The Orange County firm responsible for producing the halftime show at the Super Bowl provided the rigging handlers who were holding the ropes when a bungee jumper plunged to her death, another company involved in the jumping exhibition said Wednesday.

Wally Pinn, the stage manager for Branam Enterprises in the San Fernando Valley, which arranged the bungee jumping show for the football game, denied that his firm was responsible for the selection of undertrained workers who might have assisted in the jumps. Pinn said Select Productions of Tustin provided workers who were handling the rigging when the jumper was killed during a pregame rehearsal.

Repeated efforts to reach Select Productions were unsuccessful.

Pinn said Branam provided the equipment, the jumpers and some handlers. Pinn said there was nothing wrong with Branam’s equipment or personnel.

Lora “Dinky” Patterson, 41, of Sarasota, Fla., one of eight jumpers, died when her rope extended too far and she hit the ground. According to news reports, one volunteer handler said Branam assigned him and other volunteers to hold the ropes for the jumpers and received about two minutes of training.

Pinn said Branam would never use untrained volunteers for such an important job. He said his firm had trained some of the handlers for the jumps.

“But on [the Patterson] jump, the Branam handlers were not involved,” Pinn said.

Rick Rice, deputy director for the California Occupational Safety and Health Administration, said neither Branam nor Select has been the subject of any investigations or complaints about violations of state safety regulations.

New Orleans Police Lt. Marlon Defillo said investigators still are trying to determine the cause of the accident.