Veteran Skydiver Killed After Colliding with Another Parachute

A skilled skydiver lost her life when she inadvertently collided with another jumper’s parachute during landing. Jasmine Black, 48, was descending at the Thomaston Upson County airport in Georgia when the incident occurred on Saturday afternoon.

According to authorities, Black’s parachute made contact with that of another skydiver at a low altitude near the landing zone. Despite attempting to “cut away” her main parachute and deploy her emergency chute, her backup failed to fully open due to her proximity to the ground.

Emergency responders arrived around 4:30 p.m. and found Black deceased on the tarmac. The Federal Aviation Administration is assisting in the ongoing investigation of the incident.

Skydiving statistics reveal that last year, nearly 4 million jumps were recorded in the U.S., resulting in only nine fatalities — the lowest on record since 1961. Safety measures such as backup chutes were used in 12.3% of jumps, and only 5.6% of skydivers required medical treatment, mainly for ankle injuries upon landing.

Black’s accident marks the second fatal incident at Skydive-Atlanta in the past five years.