Skydiving Trainer Dies After Plummeting Lacking Parachute in Music City
Federal aviation authorities is looking into the fatality of a parachuting trainer following he became separated from his student during a jump in Music City, TN.
Police report trainer the instructor "appears to have fallen from the sky without a safety chute" during the dive on the weekend.
Fuller, 35 years old, appeared to have separated from his client and a dual harness, which connects the pair during a jump and contains the parachute.
A police helicopter located the instructor's remains in a wooded area hours later. Local emergency crews used multiple pieces of equipment to reach the 46-year old student who lived through the fall after being trapped on a tree branch for hours with the emergency parachute.
Officials stated three other dives, which occurred near a local airport, were successfully completed prior to the fatal fall. Aircraft from which they leaped also touched down without issue.
It is unclear how the instructor, an experienced skydiver, got detached from the protective gear.
A individual who assisted fire crews in the rescue informed a media outlet the student who officials rescued said "it was his first jump, and it was going to be his last".
Mr Fuller had previously posted about his enthusiasm for instructing people how to parachute.
"Teaching people to parachute has consistently been in my opinion the most rewarding role at the jump site," Mr Fuller wrote in an social media update in June.
"Watching them learn the skills and begin maneuvering their selves is consistently a heartwarming experience. Occasionally though, it can get a little hectic up there when you release a student for their first time."
That same month he shared photos of the damage a jump aircraft he was on saying the aircraft's motor had malfunctioned after take off. Every individual aboard survived.
