An experienced skydiver died Saturday after her main parachute collided with another jumper’s gear, and her emergency chute failed to deploy, authorities said.
Jasmine Black, 48, had completed more than 160 jumps prior to her final one over the weekend, said Upson County Sheriff Dan Kilgore. A preliminary investigation suggested that her parachute struck the parachute of another skydiver as both of them approached the landing zone at Thomaston Upson County Airport, about 60 miles south of Atlanta, the sheriff said.
It appeared that Black then performed a “cutaway” maneuver — a skydiving term for disconnecting a main parachute that’s malfunctioning — before trying to deploy her emergency parachute. But, because the skydivers’ collision happened at a low altitude, the emergency chute did not deploy, according to Kilgore.
The sheriff said Black was found dead on the airport tarmac by deputies who responded to the scene. The Federal Aviation Administration also responded and will assist the sheriff’s office as their probe into the incident continues.
Black was skydiving with the company Skydive Atlanta, which operates out of a facility at the airport.
In 2020, an 18-year-old woman and her instructor died in a skydiving accident during a tandem jump operated by the same company. Kilgore told CBS News at the time that their main parachute failed and the emergency chute “did not deploy until extremely low altitude and did not fully open.”
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CBS News contacted Skydive Atlanta for comment.
Deadly skydiving accidents are extremely rare. In 2024, the United States Parachute Association recorded nine civilian skydiving fatalities out of more than 3.8 million jumps made by its members.
