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Florida skydiver dies after 'hard landing' as parachute fails to open during jump

The police, who arrived at the DeLand Airport with emergency vehicles, said the man had a 'hard landing'

ORLANDO, FLORIDA: A man has died in Florida following a tragic skydiving incident. On Monday, October 3, a skydiver died after his parachute failed to open properly during a jump in DeLand, police said.

DeLand PD spokesperson Ava Hanner said the incident occurred around 11:45 a.m. on Monday at Skydive DeLand, reported The Daytona Beach News-Journal. The DeLand Police Department said in a tweet, "DeLand PD is currently on scene at the DeLand Airport. A male skydiver is deceased following a parachute malfunction and hard landing. We will post more updates as they become available." The police shared the tweet alongside a picture showing a plane with propellers surrounded by emergency vehicles and first responders on the tarmac of DeLand Municipal Airport. No information about the deceased man has been released. 

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Skydive DeLand offers various training programs with "instruction from the most active professional instructors and coaches in the world," according to its website. Individuals who go tandem skydiving with the company spend about 12 minutes in the air before exiting the plane at an altitude of nearly 14,000 feet with their instructor, reported People. The fall experience lasts "for approximately 60 seconds at speeds up to 120 mph" before the parachute is deployed, the site says. The skydivers can enjoy sailing in the air "for approximately 5 minutes" before making "a feather soft landing."

Death during skydiving isn't rare. In a recent incident, a TikTok influencer died during her first solo skydive after she "opened parachute too late" in Innisfil. The 21-year-old TikToker had completed her ground training with Skydive Toronto and was all hyped for her first solo dive with the hopes of sharing her fresh experience with a massive family of 100,000 followers. It was reported she released a quickly-rotating main parachute at a low altitude that led to her tragic fall. She was rushed to the hospital but shortly pronounced dead.

As recent as July 17, Maxim Slobodian well known as Maximignite a professional skydiver from Ukraine, died tragically during a horror jump accident. The 31-year-old Maxim Slobodian died while skydiving in Switzerland. He jumped off the Sputnik launch site above Lake Walenstadt. He then collided with some natural obstructions and fell 300 meters. The incident was initially reported in local media before it was later posted on Instagram and TikTok. What caused the accident is still unknown. Maxim, a resident of Dubai, had just returned from a base-jumping trip to Switzerland. The influencer had completed 8,100 jumps according to his Instagram platform where he had 180k followers. His fans were shocked by his premature death.