Fla. skydiving instructor saves student during midair parachute malfunction

By Mark Price
The Bellingham Herald

PUTNAM COUNTY, Fla. — A free-falling skydiving instructor risked his life to save one of his students after a parachute malfunction in midair, according to investigators in North Florida.

Both survived the incident, but it was the instructor who had to be rescued when he was left dangling from the top of a tree, the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office said in a May 9 news release.

The incident happened around 5:30 p.m. May 2, and the initial 911 call reported a skydiver went missing east of Palatka Municipal Airport, about a 50-mile drive south from Jacksonville.

“The student’s first parachute failed. Seeing the dire situation, the instructor, risking his own safety, did not pull his chute in order to reach the student,” the sheriff’s office said.

“Upon reaching the student, the second parachute deployed and the student was able to safely land off-course near the intersection of SR 100 and SR 19. When the instructor deployed his parachute, he was pulled further off-course.”

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A search east of the Palatka Municipal Airport revealed the skydiver was “caught in trees about 40 feet in the air,” officials said. A good Samaritan volunteered the use of a forklift to save him, the sheriff’s office said. Video screengrab

A search of the area revealed the instructor was “caught in trees about 40 feet in the air in a wooded property.”

The terrain was too rugged to reach easily, but a good Samaritan stepped in with an unusual offer, officials said.

“Steven Key of Key Repair, which is located nearby, happened to have a lift that could reach the height needed and could maneuver back through the heavy brush. He quickly stopped what he was doing to help,” the sheriff’s office said.

“Once in position paramedics and firefighters took the lift up to the parachutist and were able to free him.”

The instructor was not injured, other than some “scrapes,” officials said.

His identity was not released.

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