Two women died in a skydiving accident in California after their parachutes collided about 150ft above the ground, leaving both canopies completely entangled.
Levi Pimentel, 29, from Illinois, and Georgia Jean, 56, from South Dakota, were taking part in an organised event at Skydive Elsinore on November 6.
An eyewitness said the jump appeared “normal” and “uneventful” until the women opened their parachutes and struck one another in mid-air.
Both skydivers were taken to Inland Valley Medical Center in Wildomar, where they were pronounced dead.
Investigation into California skydiving accident
Skydive Elsinore said in a social media statement that the women were experienced, licensed skydivers who had travelled to the area for the event.
The centre said there was no indication of an equipment failure and that it was co-operating with local authorities. Investigators have not established whether weather conditions played a part.
Northerly winds were reported in the region, with gusts of up to 20mph recorded near March Air Reserve Base, about 14 miles from the skydiving centre.
The two women had been training with a group hoping to set a California record for the largest formation of women skydivers in an upright position.
Fellow skydiver Chazi Rutz said the group was aiming to complete a 19-person formation, exceeding an existing 12-person record.
Jean had completed more than 1,700 jumps and won a bronze medal in 2024 with a team called First Froth at a mixed formation skydiving event.
In a 2015 blog post, she wrote that she had failed the first level of training three times before an instructor told her: “You just can’t skydive.”
She continued with the sport, later describing how she had overcome the fear that she might be a “deathwish time bomb” waiting to go off.
Pimentel had worked for more than eight years at iFLY Naperville, an indoor skydiving facility in Illinois, where she was a lead instructor. She also organised training camps for aspiring skydivers.
The women knew each other before the fatal jump. Jean had expressed interest in attending one of Pimentel’s skydiving tunnel camps in 2027.
Skydive Elsinore said: “Skydive Elsinore extends its deepest condolences to the families, friends, and loved ones of both skydivers, and is grieving alongside all those affected.”
Recent figures from the United States Parachute Association indicate that the overall fatality rate for skydiving in the US is about 0.46 deaths per 100,000 jumps. The organisation lists landing problems, delayed emergency procedures and canopy collisions among the main causes of fatalities.
