34-year-old man killed after parachute failed to open at Connewarre after taking off from Torquay
The skydive operator involved in a second fatal accident in the past 12 months has expressed its sympathy to family and friends of the experienced jumper who died.
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An experienced skydiver has died after his parachute failed to open during a jump at Connewarre, 70km southwest of Melbourne.
It’s believed a group of people jumped from a plane in Torquay on Sunday morning, with two people landing off Breamlea Rd around 10.30am.
A 34-year-old man died at the scene, but a second male who landed in the area was not injured.
The pair was participating with Australian Skydive, the same company involved when a parachute instructor was killed in July 2021.
Australian Parachute Federation CEO Richard McCooey said the circumstances leading up to the fatal accident were still under investigation.
“We understand that the man had successfully completed 300 jumps and was doing his first jump in a wingsuit, under the supervision of an experienced tutor,” he said.
“We know very little beyond that at this stage, although it appears the man failed to deploy either of his parachutes.”
A statement from Australian Skydive — which operates from Torquay and Barwon Heads — said the cause of the incident was still being determined.
“An experienced jumper in his 30s has died as a result of a parachute accident. The cause is under investigation by the Australian Parachute Federation,” it read.
“As I am sure you are aware, parachuting can be an inherently dangerous sport, and our thoughts and love go out to his family and friends at this time.”
Mr McCooey said the circumstances leading up to the incident were “completely different” to last year’s fatality.
“This is an awful situation and our thoughts are with the man’s family and friends,” he said.
McCooey said training and safety officers were en route to the scene and would begin an investigation as soon as possible.
“It is too early to know exactly what happened,” he said.
“We take every incident very seriously and will undertake a thorough investigation.”
Originally published as 34-year-old man killed after parachute failed to open at Connewarre after taking off from Torquay
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