63-year-old man sues iFly Rosemont after crash that left him paralyzed from the neck down

A 63-year-old man who says he lost the ability to move his body from the neck down after slamming into a glass wall at an indoor skydiving facility in Rosemont last year is suing the business, claiming the crash could have been prevented by an employee.

David Schilling has required round-the-clock care since the crash at iFly Rosemont, attorney Jack Casciato of Chicago-based Clifford Law Offices said Tuesday.

Casciato said Schilling was enjoying floating in the wind tunnel with another person on Jan. 21, 2021, but began losing control. An instructor did not intervene to prevent Schilling from crashing into the glass walls, Casciato said.

"(It) was very visible; this doesn't happen within a second," Casciato said. "Another participant he's in there with is trying to help him, but that responsibility doesn't go to another paying customer."

Casciato compared what happened to Schilling to what might happen if a lifeguard on duty at a pool did not act in time to help save someone who was in trouble.

A spokesman for iFly said the company has empathy for Schilling and his family. He added that customer safety is the highest priority, noting that over the last 20 years, more than 15 million customers have used the company's wind tunnel safely.

The company opened its first indoor wind tunnel in Orlando in 1999 and operates 75 recirculating tunnels globally, including five on cruise ships.

The iFly spokesman also said Schilling is a licensed sky diver with the United States Parachute Association and has more than 80 jumps under his belt. He was at a private event for experienced sky divers, receiving instruction in the wind tunnel from another experienced sky diver, when he was injured.

Schilling's lawsuit against iFly, which also operates facilities in Naperville and Chicago, was filed last spring and is set to go to trial in October 2023.

On Tuesday, Casciato filed a request that iFly also be found to have misrepresented its service in promotional materials.

"iFly asks people to host children's birthday parties. They tell parents it's safe for 3-year-olds, and then, when someone gets hurt, they switch gears and say it is unsafe," Casciato said Tuesday, referring to the waivers guests must sign that acknowledge indoor skydiving is an inherently dangerous activity.

Casciato said he is aware of another person who became a quadriplegic following a crash at an iFly facility in Washington state. He said the legal team is investigating how that crash occurred, and what should have been learned from it that could have prevented his client's crash.