German skydiver falls to death during record try
Print Edition
A GERMAN skydiver who was among 222 people trying to set a world record with a group-formation jump was killed on Thursday in the Arizona desert when her main parachute malfunctioned, police and a spokeswoman for the skydiving facility said.
The skydiver, identified by police as 46-year-old Diana Paris of Berlin, was taking part in a first attempt to set the record on Thursday morning when the mishap occurred. She was declared dead on the scene.
“The malfunctioning parachute was released too low to allow the reserve parachute to fully open,” said Jocelyn Bernatchez, a spokeswoman for SkyDive Arizona, the facility about 105 kilometers south of Phoenix in Eloy where the event took place. Bernatchez said the airplane involved had been functioning properly, and that weather conditions in Eloy were good at the time of the accident, which occurred at about 7:30 am local time.
The team of 222 veteran skydivers from 28 countries had come to the popular US facility to try to break a record for the largest number of people to complete two aerial formations before deploying their parachutes. The previous record, involving 110 skydivers, was set last year in Florida.
Organizers said safety was foremost in their minds during planning. Skydivers were to be at an altitude of about 6,000 meters during the record-breaking attempt, with an average free-fall speed of about 190 kmh.
Under the plan, skydivers in multi-colored jumpsuits are taken aloft by 10 planes and have 80 seconds to complete kaleidoscope-like formations before opening their chutes.
After the death, the team performed a special jump in Paris’ honor involving a maneuver called a missing man formation.
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