Two female skydivers die after colliding in mid-air when their parachutes became tangled
Published: | Updated:
Two women have died in a skydiving accident that caused them to collide mid-air in California.
Levi Pimentel, 29, of Illinois, and Georgia Jean, 56, of South Dakota, visited Skydive Elsinore, a skydiving center that offers 'professional tandem jumps,' on November 6.
According to NBCLA, an eyewitness described the jump as 'normal' and 'uneventful' until the women opened their parachutes and collided about 150ft above the ground, completely entangling their chutes.
The women were taken to the Inland Valley Medical Center in Wildomar, where both of them were pronounced dead.
A Facebook post from Skydive Elsinore said that the women were 'experienced, licensed skydivers.'
The post added that both skydivers were visiting the area to participate in an organized skydiving event at the center.
The department did not provide images of either skydiver. It's also unclear if weather was a factor in the tragedy.
The skydiving center said there is no indication of anything wrong with the equipment and that it is cooperating with local authorities.
Two women died during a skydiving accident that caused them to collide mid-air in California (stock image)
The two women, who remain unidentified, visited Skydive Elsinore, a skydiving center that offers 'professional tandem jumps,' on November 6 (stock image)
Facility representatives emphasized that equipment issues do not appear to be involved and noted that they are fully cooperating with ongoing local investigations.
'Skydive Elsinore extends its deepest condolences to the families, friends, and loved ones of both skydivers, and is grieving alongside all those affected,' the organization said in a statement.'
According to recent data from the United States Parachute Association, the overall skydiving fatality rate in the US is approximately 0.46 deaths in every 100,000 jumps.
The association stated that equipment malfunctions are rarely the cause of deaths; landing problems, delayed emergency procedures and canopy collisions are listed as the three main causes of death.
The Daily Mail reached out to Skydive Elsinore and the California Police Department for further comment.
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.