A 73-year-old experienced skydiver from Arizona has died after his parachute failed to fully open while jumping with friends at 14,000 feet.
Terry Gardner and three experienced skydivers made their third jump of the day around noon Wednesday with Skydive Arizona in Eloy, police said in a statement.
The group planned a formation jump from about 14,000 feet but the attempt was unsuccessful.
Gardner then tried to open his parachute, but ran into trouble when the main canopy failed to fully deploy to slow his descent.
The other three paratroopers landed safely, but Gardner plunged to the ground and was rushed to hospital, where he later died.
“He died doing what he loved and pursuing his passion and his dreams,” Sara Curtis, vice mayor of Eloy and a longtime skydiver, told news channel AZFamily.
Terry Gardner, 73, an experienced skydiver from Arizona, died after his main parachute failed to fully open. Facebook / Kay Cottingham Robinson Gardner ran into trouble while skydiving with three friends in Eloy, Arizona. Family Distribution
“He’s an organizer, which means he leads people in leaps and bounds,” he added. “He was a skydiver who helped others learn.”
Gardner lives in Casa Grande and is “a very experienced skydiver with several thousand jumps,” according to a statement from Skydive Arizona.
“Jumpers do not use reserve (second) parachutes. Parachutists with parachute equipment owned and maintained by the jumper and clear and calm weather conditions,” the company said. “An investigation is underway to identify the cause of the accident and no further statements will be made until the results of the investigation are released.”
The skydivers tried to jump the formation at 14,000 feet, but it was unsuccessful. Facebook / Kay Cottingham Robinson Gardner was jumping with Skydive Arizona when tragedy struck.
Federal Aviation Administration officials said the agency will investigate how the parachutes were packed as well as flight rules for pilots and aircraft.
“If it happens to someone who’s in your own community, basically in your own family it’s very difficult,” Curtis said. “We will miss him terribly and we will only remember him with all the joy he lived.”
Curtis added that Gardner’s wife at one time worked at Skydive Arizona.
Gardner, circled in red, has completed thousands of jumps and in August 2022 received an award commemorating his 7,000th jump. Facebook / Kay Cottingham Robinson
This is the second fatal incident involving skydiving in Eloy in less than a month.
On January 14, a hot air balloon carrying skydivers crashed in the Eloy desert area, killing one Droplyne Hot Air Balloon Rides pilot and three people. Another was seriously injured.
Eight skydivers had safely jumped from the gondola before the balloon began to experience problems. The FAA is still investigating the crash.
With Postal wire
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
