Thursday, June 27, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
Former associates of the skyjumpers who missed their target after parachuting from a plane in Quincy, Mass., expressed regret at the death of a Las Vegas man who was originally with The Flying Elvi.
"There is an inherent risk in the sport," said Richard Feeney, president of The Flying Elvi. "It is regrettable when any skydiver is injured."
The four skyjumpers, clad in Elvis-like fringed white jumpsuits, slicked-back hair and sunglasses, realized soon after leaping from their plane Tuesday that whipping winds would blow them from their target, so they tried in vain to steer toward another safe place to land.
Ray Sayles was blown into a yacht club and died of head and back injuries. Jim Bozarth of Henderson remained hospitalized after slamming into the ground during the jump that was part of the opening of the WaterWorks nightclub on Boston Harbor.
The other two, Thomas LaRochelle of Brookline, N.H., and George Head of Las Vegas, landed in the water and were not seriously hurt.
"I was trying really hard to make the shore," LaRochelle said. He landed about 100 feet offshore.
LaRochelle, 49, is a licensed professional skydiver who has made more than 2,500 jumps during the past 25 years. He said he and other three, all experienced in diving in less-than-perfect conditions, had assessed the weather shortly before the jump.
"There's quite a science involved. We tried to take as much guesswork out of it as possible, but Mother Nature does unpredictable things sometimes," he said.
"We're all very professional, well-seasoned professionals and normally we can handle this, but it just didn't go the way we planned."
A landing area was cordoned off in the club parking lot in North Quincy, just south of Boston, and spotters were ready to help the "flying Elvises" make a safe landing Tuesday evening.
Sayles died at Boston City Hospital, spokesman Paul Sheehan said. Bozarth was in stable condition. LaRochelle and Head were not hospitalized.
Keith Lawrence, an emergency medical technician who was stationed in a boat, said it was clear something was wrong as soon as the jumpers left the plane.
"It appeared that they were way short of their target," Lawrence said. "We were told to head out immediately after they jumped."
In 1995, the Flying Elvises broke away from The Flying Elvi over rights to the name of the competing entertainers. The two groups sued each other in federal court over alleged trademark infringement.
The Flying Elvises ultimately agreed to drop the name and pay The Flying Elvi owner Richard Feeney $80,000.
The former Elvises, owned by Mark Miscevic, billed themselves as Into the Fire. They have offices at 3790 Paradise Road. Feeney noted that The Flying Elvi is licensed by Elvis Presley Enterprises, the estate of the late performer.
Head and Bozarth broke away from The Flying Elvi, said marketing manager Mike Eckert.
"When the lawsuit happened, some of them chose Miscevic," Eckert said.
Miscevic, who was in his Las Vegas office Wednesday, did not return telephone calls.
Eckert said everyone associated with The Flying Elvi "are sorry the accident happened."
The 10-member team has never had a close call, he said, "because we don't take those chances. If the wind is blowing over 12 miles an hour, we don't jump."
About 1,600 people celebrating the nightclub's grand opening saw the stuntmen fall, but they assumed they landed in the water and so weren't concerned, said Phil Cocco, director of operations for WaterWorks.
Richard Brunson, a spectator watching from his car, said the wind was strong that night.
"We looked up and saw four figures coming down, one behind the other," Brunson said. "The first dropped right inside the Savin Hill Yacht Club. The others were trailing him and all seemed to be fighting the wind."
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