Grief of skydiver

The boyfriend who watched helplessly as skydiver Clare Barnes plummeted to her death on her 200th jump is said to be deeply traumatised.

Chris McDougall was today being comforted by Miss Barnes's parents, newsreader Carol Barnes and her former husband, Foreign Office minister Denis MacShane, who arrived in Australia early this morning.

In an emotional meeting at Mr McDougall's Melbourne home, he told how he watched Ms Barnes, 24, struggle to free herself from her tangled main parachute, how the emergency chute also became tangled and how he was forced to watch her fall to certain death.

Friends say Mr McDougall, 26, a former Australian skydiving champion, is deeply traumatised. He stayed with Miss Barnes's body after he landed safely, holding her hand until an ambulance arrived. He had a video camera strapped to his back which filmed the formation dive - in which the couple took part with nine others - over the town of Barwon Heads near Melbourne on Sunday. He had kissed her as they descended from 14,000 feet, then the formation broke up at around 4,000 feet and she suddenly disappeared from view.

He and Miss Barnes's parents spent several hours together, as an inquiry showed that from

the moment she left the aircraft there was nothing she could have done to save herself.

A series of problems were found with her equipment. A senior source within the Australian aviation authority said: "She never had a chance She was doomed from the start."

Inspector Neil Cheney, leading the investigation into the tragedy, said: "What appears to have happened is that all the cards have been stacked against her. In that sequence of events, they have fallen the wrong way each time." Investigators will tell Miss Barnes's parents that her death was not her fault.

Sources revealed that among the problems was that equipment in her main parachute was not compatible with other parts of her kit. It is understood that she carried out all the correct procedures when her main parachute failed to deploy properly and became entangled around her body.

She deployed her emergency reserve chute a full 12 seconds before it came into operation, but that too became entangled.

Mr Cheney confirmed an urgent warning would be circulated to parachuting and skydiving clubs and organisations tomorrow to check the compatibility of their equipment.

Although further testing of Miss Barnes's equipment will have to be carried out, Mr Cheney added: "The compatibility of components is a significant issue."

Reserve parachutes are standard and regulated. But the main chute is self-regulated, and the jumper might buy equipment components from different manufacturers. "They are largely interchangeable, but not always," said Mr Cheney.

"This is a problem that the Parachute Federation is aware of and has been aware of in the past. They have previously circulated advice to people and I shall be reinforcing that advice in a report."

Miss Barnes's body will be released by the coroner tomorrow. It is understood that a funeral will be held on Friday, when she will be cremated. The family will fly home to England with her ashes over the weekend.