Parachuting Trainer Killed After Falling Without Parachute in Nashville
Federal aviation authorities is looking into the fatality of a skydiving instructor after he became separated from his client during a dive in Nashville, Tennessee.
Authorities say instructor the instructor "is presumed to have dropped from the sky without a parachute" during the jump on Saturday.
The instructor, 35 years old, appeared to have separated from his student and a tandem rig, which links the two during a dive and contains the safety gear.
A law enforcement aircraft located the instructor's remains in a forested zone hours later. Local emergency crews used multiple pieces of equipment to reach the 46-year old client who lived through the descent after being trapped on a tree branch for hours with the emergency parachute.
Police said several additional jumps, which took place near Nashville's John C Tune airport, were successfully completed before the fatal fall. Aircraft from which they jumped also landed safely.
It is unclear how Mr Fuller, an experienced skydiver, got detached from the protective gear.
A man who assisted fire crews in the operation told a local television station the client who authorities rescued mentioned "he was a first-time jumper, and it was going to be his final one".
Mr Fuller had recently written about his enthusiasm for instructing people how to skydive.
"Instructing individuals to parachute has consistently been in my opinion the most satisfying job at the jump site," the instructor wrote in an Instagram post in the summer.
"Observing students learn the skills and begin maneuvering their bodies is consistently a heartwarming moment. Occasionally 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 damage a skydiving plane he was on noting the aircraft's motor had failed after take off. Every individual onboard lived through the incident.
