Polk County woman died as a result of a mishap during her first solo training skydiving session at Skydive Spaceland Atlanta, north of Atlanta, on Sunday. According to a statement released by Skydive Spaceland, the 26-year-old woman was using her own parachute system and was jumping with an instructor when she experienced a complication with her primary parachute after an “uneventful” freefall. The statement noted that the chute was in good repair, was properly sized for the woman, and that weather was not a factor in the incident. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is currently investigating the accident, including inspecting the packing of the parachute, the reserve parachute, and the rules of flight for the pilot and aircraft. The average FAA investigation takes 2-3 years to complete.
Skydive Spaceland Atlanta has been operating in Georgia since 2015 and provides 18 solo training skydives to students who are in the program. Each solo dive features individual instruction and a video. The jumps are counted toward the 25 required to obtain an A license.
According to the organization Skydive California, having a primary parachute not open occurs about once in every 500 skydives. However, the reserve parachute generally opens before the skydiver even realizes there is an issue. There is a fatality rate of around one skydiver for every 167,000 jumps, which is statistically lower than many other types of recreational activities. Usually, there is an automatic activation device (AAD), which senses the speed at which the skydiver is traveling an can deploy the reserve chute if needed.
Taking up a hobby such as skydiving can bring adventure into your days. Unfortunately, it can also lead to injury. If your injury was caused by the negligent actions of someone else, you can seek compensation through the personal injury claims process. Let our experienced personal injury lawyer help you understand this process. Contact us for a free case evaluation.
