Camera May Hold Clues in Skydivers' Deaths

Icelandic instructor, student die in Florida jump
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 25, 2013 2:57 AM CDT
Helmet Cam Checked for Clues in Double Skydive Death
The United States Parachute Association says 19 skydivers died in the US last year.   (Shutterstock)

Authorities probing the deaths of two men in a skydiving accident in Florida on Saturday hope a helmet camera worn by one of them will provide some clues, Tampa Bay Online reports. The instructor and student, both from Iceland, were found dead in a wooded area about a mile from the landing zone after a morning jump. The pair jumped separately and neither of their main parachutes opened.

"Neither one deployed his main chute and we don't know why," the co-owner of Skydive City in the Tampa suburb of Zephyrhills says. "Sometimes during a jump something creates a distraction." Both the men's reserve chutes automatically deployed, but not in time to save them. They were on their third jump of the day. Skydiving has become safer over the decades but accidents still happen, with 19 skydiver deaths out of an estimated 3.1 million jumps in the US last year, the AP reports. (More skydiving stories.)

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