The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the death of a skydiving instructor after he became separated from his student during a jump in Nashville, Tennessee.
Police say instructor Justin Fuller “is presumed to have fallen from the sky without a parachute” during the jump on Saturday.
Fuller, 35, appeared to have separated from his client and a tandem rig, which connects the pair during a jump and includes the parachute.
A police helicopter found Fuller’s body in a wooded area hours later. The Nashville Fire Department used several ladders to reach the 46-year old client who survived the fall after being trapped on a tree for hours with the emergency parachute.
Police said three other dives, which took place near Nashville’s John C Tune airport, were successfully completed prior to the fatal fall. The plane from which they jumped also landed safely.
It is unclear how Mr Fuller, an experienced skydiver, became separated from the safety equipment.
A man who helped fire crews in the rescue told local television station WSMV the client who authorities rescued said “it was his first jump, and it was going to be his last”.
Mr Fuller had recently written about his passion for teaching others how to skydive.
“Teaching people to skydive has always been in my opinion the most rewarding job at the drop zone,” Mr Fuller said in an Instagram post in June.
“Watching them figure it out and start flying their bodies is always a heartwarming moment. Sometimes though, it can get a little hectic up there when you let someone go for their first time.”
That same month he posted photos of the wreckage a skydiving plane he was on saying the plane’s engine had failed after take off. All 20 people onboard survived.
