What happened
Two skydivers taking part in an organized event in California died Friday after colliding in the air and falling to the ground, according to CBS News. Skydive Elsinore, the operation where the accident happened, said both were licensed, experienced jumpers.
The Riverside County Sheriff's Department said deputies were sent late Friday morning after reports of an air emergency. Both skydivers were taken to a local hospital with critical injuries. The sheriff said they were pronounced dead there.
What the company says
In a statement, Skydive Elsinore said the free-fall portion of the dive and the opening of both parachutes were normal. The problem came as the two were getting ready to land, when they collided at roughly 150 feet above the ground.
"The collision caused their parachutes to become entangled, and both sustained critical injuries when they reached the ground," the company said. It added that there was no evidence of equipment malfunction.
According to the company, the two were visiting from out of town specifically to take part in the organized skydiving event. The statement did not say how the two came to be on a collision course or where each was positioned in the landing area.
The location and the operation
Skydive Elsinore describes itself as the longest-running skydiving operation in North America. The drop zone sits about an hour from both the San Diego and Los Angeles metropolitan areas, which puts it within reach of a large population of recreational jumpers.
Organized skydiving events typically bring together jumpers from different places who may be flying alongside people they do not regularly jump with. Nothing in the material released so far says whether that played any role on Friday.
What remains unknown
The reporting leaves several basic questions unanswered. The sheriff's department and Skydive Elsinore have not named the two skydivers in the information provided, and they have not described what led to the collision. The company's statement points away from equipment trouble, but it does not offer an explanation of its own.
Skydiving accidents are often examined by several parties, including local law enforcement and the operation involved. The source material does not say whether any formal review of Friday's collision has begun, who would lead it, or when its findings might become public.
Collisions between open canopies near the ground are a recognized hazard in the sport, because skydivers steer their parachutes toward a landing area and have little altitude to recover if something goes wrong. In this case, the company said the two jumpers were within about 150 feet of the ground when they collided, leaving very little room to separate or recover before landing.
