Skydiving Trainer Dies Following Plummeting Without Parachute in Nashville
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the fatality of a skydiving instructor after he became separated from his client during a dive in Nashville, Tennessee.
Authorities say trainer the instructor "is presumed to have fallen from the sky without a parachute" during the dive on the weekend.
Fuller, 35 years old, appeared to have separated from his client and a tandem rig, which links the pair during a dive and includes the parachute.
A law enforcement aircraft found the instructor's remains in a wooded area hours later. The Nashville Fire Department utilized several ladders to access the 46-year old client who lived through the fall after being trapped on a tree branch for hours with the backup chute.
Police stated three other dives, which took place near Nashville's John C Tune airport, were successfully completed prior to the fatal fall. Aircraft from which they jumped also touched down without issue.
The cause remains unknown how the instructor, an seasoned parachutist, got detached from the protective gear.
A individual who helped rescue teams in the rescue informed a local television station the client who officials rescued said "it was his first jump, and it was going to be his final one".
The instructor had previously posted about his enthusiasm for teaching others how to skydive.
"Instructing individuals to skydive has always been in my opinion the most satisfying job at the jump site," the instructor wrote in an social media update in the summer.
"Watching them learn the skills and begin maneuvering their bodies is always a heartwarming experience. Sometimes though, it can become quite chaotic up there when you release a student for their first time."
During that period he posted images of the wreckage a jump aircraft he was on saying the plane's engine had malfunctioned after departure. Every individual aboard lived through the incident.
