Skydiving Trainer Dies Following Plummeting Without Safety Gear in Nashville
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the death of a parachuting trainer after he got detached from his client during a jump in Music City, TN.
Authorities say trainer the instructor "appears to have dropped from the air without a safety chute" during the jump on Saturday.
The instructor, 35 years old, seems to have detached from his student and a dual harness, which links the two during a dive and includes the safety gear.
A police helicopter located the instructor's remains in a forested zone hours later. Local emergency crews utilized multiple pieces of equipment to access the middle-aged student who lived through the fall after being stuck on a tree branch for hours with the backup chute.
Police said several additional jumps, which occurred near a local airport, were successfully completed prior to the deadly incident. Aircraft from which they jumped also landed safely.
The cause remains unknown how the instructor, an experienced skydiver, got detached from the protective gear.
A individual who assisted fire crews in the rescue told a media outlet the student who authorities rescued said "it was his first jump, and it was going to be his last".
Mr Fuller had recently written about his passion for teaching others how to skydive.
"Instructing individuals to parachute has always been in my opinion the most rewarding job at the jump site," the instructor said in an Instagram post in the summer.
"Watching them learn the skills and begin maneuvering their selves is always a heartwarming experience. Occasionally though, it can become quite chaotic up there when you let someone go for their first time."
During that period he shared photos of the damage a jump aircraft he was on saying the aircraft's motor had malfunctioned after take off. All 20 people onboard survived.
