Skydiving Trainer Killed Following Plummeting Without Safety Gear in Nashville
Federal aviation authorities is looking into the fatality of a skydiving instructor after he became separated from his client during a dive in Nashville, Tennessee.
Police say trainer Justin Fuller "appears to have fallen from the sky without a parachute" during the jump on Saturday.
Fuller, 35 years old, seems to have separated from his student and a dual harness, which links the pair during a dive and contains the safety gear.
A police helicopter located Fuller's body in a forested zone hours later. The Nashville Fire Department used multiple pieces of equipment to access the middle-aged student who lived through the descent after being trapped on a tree for some time with the backup chute.
Police stated several additional jumps, which occurred near a local airport, were successfully completed before the fatal fall. Aircraft from which they jumped also touched down without issue.
The cause remains unknown how Mr Fuller, an seasoned parachutist, became separated from the protective gear.
A man who helped fire crews in the rescue told a media outlet the student who officials rescued said "it was his first jump, and it was going to be his last".
The instructor had recently written about his enthusiasm for teaching others how to skydive.
"Teaching people to parachute has always been in my opinion the most satisfying job at the jump site," the instructor said in an Instagram post in the summer.
"Watching them figure it out and begin maneuvering their selves is always a touching moment. Sometimes though, it can become quite chaotic up there when you let someone go for their initial attempt."
That same month he shared photos of the damage a skydiving plane he was on noting the aircraft's motor had failed after departure. Every individual onboard lived through the incident.
