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A female German skydiver had reportedly plunged to her death while participating in a 222-person jump in Arizona when her main parachute malfunctioned.
46-year-old Diana Paris of Berlin was taking part in a world-record attempt for most skydivers changing from one formation to another in a one jump, according to the jump’s organizing group, World Team.
The skydiver’s parachute was released too low to allow the reserve chute to fully open and not related to aircraft, the size of the group or weather conditions, according to an official statement from Skydive Arizona, an Eloy skydiving business.
Members of the group came from about a dozen countries to free-fall from about 18,000 feet, then come together in a formation before separating and doing another formation. They then pull their parachutes.
The group did not complete the formation and didn’t set the record Thursday, but a World Team spokeswoman said the team decided to keep moving towards the record with 221 members. World Team organized the event at Skydive Arizona.
The team met after the accident and agreed to a special jump Thursday, a missing man formation skydive, to honor the late skydiver, the spokeswoman said.
Two skydivers – from Germany and the United Kingdom – died in November as their parachutes collapsed and they fell to their deaths during an attempt to set a jump record.
Agencies/Canadajournal
