Parachuting Trainer Dies Following Falling Lacking Safety Gear in Music City
Federal aviation authorities is looking into the fatality of a parachuting trainer following he got detached from his student during a jump in Nashville, Tennessee.
Authorities report instructor Justin Fuller "is presumed to have fallen from the air without a safety chute" during the jump on Saturday.
Fuller, 35 years old, appeared to have separated from his client and a tandem rig, which links the two during a dive and includes the parachute.
A police helicopter located the instructor's remains in a forested zone hours later. The Nashville Fire Department utilized several ladders to access the 46-year old student who survived the fall after being stuck on a tree for some time with the backup chute.
Officials said several additional jumps, which occurred near a local airport, were successfully completed before the deadly incident. The plane from which they jumped also touched down without issue.
The cause remains unknown how the instructor, an experienced skydiver, got detached from the protective gear.
A man who helped fire crews in the operation told a local television station the client who authorities rescued said "he was a first-time jumper, and it was going to be his last".
The instructor had recently written about his enthusiasm for instructing people how to skydive.
"Instructing individuals to skydive has consistently been in my view the most rewarding job at the drop zone," Mr Fuller wrote in an Instagram post in June.
"Watching them learn the skills and begin maneuvering their bodies is consistently a touching moment. Occasionally though, it can become quite chaotic up there when you release a student for their initial attempt."
That same month he shared photos of the damage a skydiving plane he was on saying the aircraft's motor had malfunctioned after take off. Every individual onboard lived through the incident.
