A seasoned skydiver was fatally injured when she collided with another jumper’s parachute just before landing, authorities reported.
Jasmine Black, 48, passed away Saturday afternoon, June 21, after jumping from a plane operated by Skydive-Atlanta at the Thomaston Upson County airport in Georgia, according to Upson County Sheriff Dan Kilgore.
Investigators noted that as Black neared the landing area, her parachute struck that of another skydiver at a low altitude.
Black, who had completed over 160 jumps, attempted to “cut away” her primary parachute and activate the reserve parachute, but it failed due to her proximity to the ground, Kilgore explained.
When police arrived around 4:30 p.m., Black was deceased on the tarmac.
Veteran skydiver dies after hitting another jumper’s parachute midair
The Federal Aviation Administration is also supporting the ongoing investigation.
Of the nearly 4 million reported skydives in the US last year, nine individuals lost their lives.
Reserve parachutes were required in 12.3% of skydives during the same period, and only 5.6% of skydivers needed medical attention for injuries sustained during a jump, with the most frequent being sprained ankles upon landing.
Black’s death marks the second fatal skydiving accident at Skydive-Atlanta in the past five years.
In 2020, 18-year-old Jeanna Triplicata and 35-year-old skydiving instructor Nick Esposito perished in a tandem jump after they began spiraling uncontrollably in midair.
“Upon exiting the aircraft, the primary parachute failed to open properly and went into a spin,” Kilgore told local reporters at the time. “The emergency parachute did not deploy until extremely low altitude and did not fully open.”
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