Lodi, CA – Authorities say a skydiver fell to her death when her parachute failed to open over California’s Centrall Valley.
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The Stockton Record reported Monday that the veteran jumper was using her own equipment and the plane carrying her took off from the Skydive Lodi Parachute Center on Sunday. Her name has not been released.
The Record reported that at least 15 skydivers using the center have died in jumps between 1999 and 2017. Federal authorities raided the center in January following several similar fatalities over the last couple of years. The results of the investigation have not been announced. Two years ago, the industry’s licensing organization suspended 20 skydiving instructors. The U.S. Parachuting Association also ordered 120 instructors to undergo more training.
The Parachute Center did not return a call Monday.
There is supposed to be a backup reserve chute, in case the main chute fails; this is a horrible tragedy.
I have jumped over two hundred times. You have to figure I have seen tens of thousands of jumps. I have been on post while maybe a million people have jumped. I have never seen or been near a fatality.