Two experienced skydivers died Friday when their parachutes became entangled during an organized dive in Southern California.
Georgia Jean, 56, of Box Elder, S.D., and Levi Pimentel, 29, of Aurora, Ill., both licensed skydivers, began to plummet at about 150 feet above the ground when they collided midair at Skydive Elsinore around noon in Lake Elsinore, about 75 miles southeast of Los Angeles.
The freefall portion of the skydive was normal, as was the opening of the parachutes, Skydive Elsinore said.
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Jean and Pimentel suffered “traumatic injuries” and were rushed by ambulance to a hospital, the Riverside County Fire Department said on social media.
They were pronounced dead at the hospital.
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“The collision caused their parachutes to become entangled, and both sustained critical injuries when they reached the ground,” Skydive Elsinore said in a statement.
Pimentel was a lead skydiving instructor at iFLY Naperville in Illinois, according to her LinkedIn, and Jean had done more than 1,700 jumps, according to her website.
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.