Skydiving Instructor Dies Following Plummeting Lacking Parachute in Nashville
Federal aviation authorities is looking into the fatality of a skydiving instructor after he got detached from his client during a jump in Music City, TN.
Authorities report trainer the instructor "appears to have fallen from the sky without a safety chute" during the jump on the weekend.
The instructor, 35, seems to have separated from his client and a tandem rig, which connects the two during a dive and includes the safety gear.
A police helicopter located Fuller's body in a wooded area some time after. Local emergency crews utilized several ladders to access the middle-aged student who lived through the descent after being stuck on a tree branch for some time with the backup chute.
Police stated several additional jumps, which occurred near a local airport, were successfully completed before the fatal fall. The plane from which they jumped also landed safely.
It is unclear how Mr Fuller, an experienced skydiver, got detached from the protective gear.
A individual who assisted rescue teams in the operation told a media outlet the student who officials saved said "it was his first jump, and it was going to be his final one".
Mr Fuller had recently written about his enthusiasm for instructing people how to parachute.
"Instructing individuals to parachute has consistently been in my opinion the most rewarding role at the drop zone," the instructor said in an Instagram post in June.
"Watching them figure it out and start flying their selves is consistently a heartwarming experience. Occasionally though, it can become quite chaotic up there when you release a student for their first time."
That same month he shared photos of the wreckage a skydiving plane he was on noting the plane's engine had malfunctioned after departure. All 20 people aboard survived.
