Rookie skydiver survives after getting tangled in live power lines in Southern California during first solo dive
RIVERSIDE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA: A skydiving student in Southern California overshot the airport where she was supposed to land and ended up entangled in live power lines. The incident occurred in Lake Elsinore, Riverside County, and the woman, who was training to skydive solo, was not injured.
Riverside County firefighters briefly shut off the power lines to climb up and detangle the rookie skydiver. "She basically overflew the entire airport," said Skydive Elsinore general manager Josh Hall, adding, "Luckily, she's fine; obviously, it could have been a lot worse," as per the Los Angles Times.
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'I don't know if I'm going to jump again. Probably not'
After the rescue, the woman, who declined to give her name, told NBC4 Los Angeles, "I don't know if I'm going to jump again. Probably not." Witnesses were amazed by her calmness in the situation. She was just up there chilling, which was surprising because that's pretty scary," said witness Jose Olea. Another witness, Eddie Guillen, said, "We heard a pop. We didn't see anything at first, then saw her stuck up there. Then we saw her moving and thought, 'Oh my gosh, she's still alive.'"
Firefighters reported that they had to wait for about 40 minutes for the power to be cut to avoid electrocution during the rescue. First responders used an aerial ladder to reach the trapped parachutist who was then evaluated by medics. The woman was in the Accelerated Free Fall program which trains students to become certified to skydive without a tandem instructor. The incident occurred during the woman's first solo dive.
#CorydonIC [UPDATE]: Patient was extricated by an aerial ladder from the high tension lines. Patient was assessed and declined further medical treatment. Resources available shortly. pic.twitter.com/zzIRlp4Lfv
— CAL FIRE/Riverside County Fire Department (@CALFIRERRU) March 27, 2023
'Very lucky she walked away basically without a scratch'
The Skydive Elsinore general manager said he still doesn't understand how the woman ended up in the area. He said, "From what it sounds like, she just got confused. She basically flew her parachute into an area where she shouldn't." Hall said the student was "very lucky she walked away basically without a scratch.
"Battalion Chief Jeff Roberts with Cal Fire said he isn't sure how the woman managed to avoid being electrocuted. The woman said that she was attempting to miss one power line near the intersection of Corydon Road and Garden Street and it ended up backfiring. "So I was trying to miss that power line, then I turned a hard right, and then I went into the other power line," she said.
Instances like this are 'very rare'
Hall said instances like this are "very rare" and business takes more than 100,000 flights a year. At this time, it's unknown what caused the Monday incident. The company plans to release information once the results of the investigation have concluded. "We want to apologize to our neighbors for any inconvenience this may have caused," the business said in a letter.