A neighbor's surveillance video captured an SUV window's reflection, showing the skydiver descending before making a hard landing.
Detectives are investigating after a skydiver was found dead in the front yard of a residence near an airpark in Florida, authorities said Saturday.
A man outfitted in parachute attire and gear was located just before 12:30 p.m. on the lawn of a home in Titusville, about 50 miles east of Orlando, police said in a statement. The Titusville Fire Department responded and said the man was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police on Monday identified the victim as 69-year-old Frederick C. Morello, of Ormond Beach, CBS affiliate WKMG reported.
The video shows someone from the skydiving center removing the parachute from the scene, but doesn't make it clear if that's before or after the paramedics clear the scene.
A bit strange if somebody came to take the parachute but left the guy in the yard.
The video shows a reflection in the back window of the SUV showing his chute was open when he came down, but he was moving fast and didn’t appear to be flaring (which further slows descent to a manageable landing speed). He might have become incapacitated in the air, or still impacted hard enough to kill him, but it wasn’t a “no chute full speed” type of situation, it seems
In the reflection it looks like he was turning super low. That's pretty dangerous since your body will swing out horizontal during the turn, and then you can slam into the ground as you swing back.
He shouldn't have been that close to homes in the first place though, I assume they must have really fucked up, and he didn't have a safe spot to land.
Human bodies splatter less than you think, more akin to dropping a sausage on the floor. It bounces, and a piece or two might disconnect, but "guts and skin everywhere" is more a traumatic car accident thing.
I can't believe I've never seen this as a headline before. Has it mostly been suppressed in the past? The article itself acknowledged that EMTs have certainly seen skydiver deaths.
Living his life to the fullest, why not skydive if you’re physically/mentally well at 70? Not like you have a lot left to live for that you need to be risk-averse