A pair of skydivers was critically injured outside Las Vegas this month when a malfunctioning parachute caused them to hit the ground at speeds of around 45 mph.
The divers, an instructor, 54, and a 24-year-old student on an 11,000-ft tandem jump, went into a spiral on September 17 as a backup parachute caused their main parachute not to fully open, according to a police report obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The pair were airlifted from the crash site near the town of Jean to Las Vegas’s University Medical Center, which told the paper the divers’ condition was critical as of Monday.
A witness to the tragedy told police they saw that the pair’s primary parachute was “not working as well as it could have.”
A family friend identified the skydiving instructor to the paper as Jiron Arcos Ponce.
The police report listed the plane involved in the accident as being tied to a company called GoJump Las Vegas, though the company says it was closed the day of the incident and uninvolved in the tragedy.
“I don’t know how the Metropolitan Police came up with that report but we have nothing to do with Skydive Las Vegas,” Vetter said, naming a company that operates in the area near where the crash took place.
“We never rent out anything to Skydive Las Vegas, are not affiliated with them and have nothing to do with them.”
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the incident.
The Independent has contacted University Medical Center, the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, the FAA, and Skydive Las Vegas for comment.
The accident in Nevada follows a tragedy in June in Georgia, where Jasmine Black, 48, died after hitting another jumper’s parachute while trying to land.
Last year, nine civilians died skydiving over the course of nearly 4 million jumps, according to the U.S. Parachute Association.
