A seasoned skydiver tragically lost her life after her parachute collided with another jumper’s canopy just before landing, officials confirmed.
Jasmine Black, 48, died on the afternoon of Saturday, June 21, following a jump from a plane operated by Skydive-Atlanta out of Thomaston Upson County Airport in Georgia, according to Upson County Sheriff Dan Kilgore.
Investigators reported that as Black neared the landing zone at a low altitude, her parachute struck that of another skydiver. Despite Black’s attempt to “cut away” her main parachute and deploy her emergency reserve, the backup chute failed to fully open due to the proximity to the ground, Kilgore explained.
Authorities arrived at the scene around 4:30 p.m. and found Black deceased on the tarmac. The Federal Aviation Administration is assisting with the ongoing investigation.
Out of nearly 4 million skydives recorded in the U.S. last year, nine fatalities were reported. Backup parachutes were deployed in 12.3% of jumps, while only 5.6% of skydivers required medical treatment—most commonly for ankle injuries upon landing.
Black’s death marks the second fatal skydiving accident at Skydive-Atlanta in the last five years. In 2020, 18-year-old Jeanna Triplicata and 35-year-old instructor Nick Esposito were killed during a tandem jump after their parachute malfunctioned midair.
“Upon exiting the aircraft, the primary parachute failed to open properly and went into a spin,” Sheriff Kilgore said at the time. “The emergency parachute did not deploy until extremely low altitude and did not fully open.”
