Skydiver Dies In Lodi, California, After Parachute Fails To Deploy

A skydiver was killed after her parachute failed to deploy during a jump at the Lodi Parachute Center, California, on Sunday.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed the tragic incident and said the skydiver was using her own equipment. Ian Gregor, public affairs manager for the FAA, said the agency will investigate the incident. Gregor added skydiving accident investigations conducted by FAA are typically limited to determining whether the parachute was properly packed by the appropriate person and not focused on the wind.

The San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Department said officials from the Coroner's Office in San Joaquin County were also en route to the scene for investigating the incident, SF Gate reported.

Brent Huntington, a skydiver who had met the woman during this weekend’s trip, said the skydiver was involved in the extreme sport for decades. He added that he cared for the woman who died as part of the special camaraderie shared by all skydivers.

“We all care about it. We do it for a reason,” Huntington told Fox 40.

A total of nineteen people have died in the facility since it opened in the early 1980s. Six of them died between 2016 and 2018.

FBI served a search warrant at the center earlier this year. However, details about the search including why it was conducted or what was found were not revealed. Agents, however, were seen leaving the skydiving center with cardboard boxes and filled trash bags.

“They took a lot of stuff – waivers people signed when they made jumps, cash register receipts, credit card receipts, a lot of video footage,” the center owner Bill Dause said after the raid, Sac Bee reported.

A plane belonging to the center with 18 people landed upside-down in a vineyard in May 2016. Nobody was injured in the incident. In July the same year, a young man and his unlicensed skydiving instructor fell to their deaths during a tandem jump when their parachutes failed to deploy.

"We found out pretty quickly as we began to investigate the fatal accident, as we investigate all fatal skydiving accidents that the tandem instructor had not been certified either by us -by the U.S. Parachute Association- to be a tandem instructor or by any manufacturer of tandem skydiving equipment,” Ed Scott, Executive Director for the U.S. Parachute Association said, Cap Radio reported.

This incident led to changes in the rules for California skydiving centers. After an investigation by the United States Parachute Association, 20 instructors at the center were suspended and 120 others were told to undergo more training, NBC-affiliated television station KCRA reported.