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A paratrooper was killed after his parachute was not deployed during a jump to the Lodi Parachute Center, California on Sunday.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) confirmed the tragic incident and said the parachutist was using his own equipment. Ian Gregor, FAA Public Affairs Officer, said the agency would investigate the incident. Gregor added that the FAA's parachute accident investigations were generally limited to determining whether the parachute was properly packed by the appropriate person and not focused on the wind.
The San Joaquin County Sheriff's Department said officials from the San Joaquin County Coroner's Office also went to the scene to investigate the incident, SF Gate reported.
Brent Huntington, a paratrooper who met the woman during the weekend's trip, said the paratrooper had been involved in extreme sport for decades. He added that he cared for the deceased woman as part of the special camaraderie shared by all the paratroopers.
"We all care about it. We do it for a reason, "Huntington told Fox 40.
Nineteen people have died in this facility since it opened in the early 1980s. Six of them died between 2016 and 2018.
The FBI served a search warrant at the center earlier this year. However, the details of the research, including why it was done or what was found, were not revealed. Agents were, however, seen leaving the skydiving center with cartons and full bin bags.
"They took a lot of things – waivers signed by people when they were doing jumps, cash receipts, credit card receipts, a lot of video footage," said center owner Bill Dause after the raid, reported Bag Bee.
A plane belonging to the center, with 18 people, landed in a vineyard in May 2016. No one was injured in the incident. In July of the same year, a young man and his unlicensed parachute jump instructor died during a tandem jump, while their parachutes were not deploying.
"We found out quite quickly that we started to investigate the fatal accident, while we were investigating all fatal skydiving accidents according to which the tandem instructor had not been certified either – by the US Parachute Association – as a tandem instructor or by any manufacturer the tandem skydiving equipment, "said Ed Scott, executive director of the US Parachute Association, reported Cap Radio.
This incident resulted in a change to the rules applicable to parachuting centers in California. After an investigation by the United States Parachute Association, 20 center instructors were suspended and another 120 were invited to retrain, reported NBC-affiliated television channel KCRA.
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