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A skydiver on her first solo mission has died in Georgia.
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The unnamed woman, 26, had undertaken her first training jump by herself as a student, according to WSBTVbut an instructor accompanied her.
The two were meant to land in a field in Polk County, but following the free-fall portion, something went wrong — a complication with the woman’s primary parachute, according to a spokesperson for Skydive Spaceland Atlanta.
What exactly went wrong is still being investigated, but it’s somewhat mysterious. As a student, the woman would have been equipped with an electronic safety device to automatically deploy the backup parachute all skydivers wear.
What the situation was with her reserve chute is not specified.
The investigation, according to the FAA, will be limited to inspecting the packing of the parachute, the reserve parachute and the rules of flight for the involved pilot and airplane.
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“The equipment was appropriately sized, in good repair, and properly maintained by the standards of the Federal Aviation Administration,” Skydive Spaceland said, according to a report from CNN.
Weather was not a factor.
The United States Parachute Association (USPA) reports 3.5 million skydiving jumps in 2021 at USPA-affiliated centers throughout the US
Only 10 deaths occurred; the rate of 0.28 deaths per 100,000 jumps is offered as proof of the rarity of fatalities in skydiving, although this will be cold comfort to the families of the 10 who died.
This Polk County airport was the scene of another skydiving tragedy in 2014, when two jumpers collided at 13,000 feet in midair and one fell to his death.