Parachuting Instructor Dies Following Plummeting Lacking Safety Gear in Music City
The Federal Aviation Administration is looking into the death of a parachuting trainer following he got detached from his student during a dive in Music City, TN.
Authorities say trainer the instructor "is presumed to have fallen from the sky without a safety chute" during the jump on the weekend.
Fuller, 35 years old, seems to have separated from his student and a tandem rig, which links the two during a dive and includes the safety gear.
A law enforcement aircraft located the instructor's remains in a forested zone hours later. Local emergency crews used several ladders to access the 46-year old client who lived through the descent after being trapped on a tree for hours with the backup chute.
Police said 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 landed safely.
It is unclear how the instructor, an seasoned parachutist, became separated from the protective gear.
A individual who helped fire crews in the rescue informed a local television station the client who officials rescued said "he was a first-time jumper, and it was going to be his final one".
Mr Fuller had previously posted about his passion for teaching others how to skydive.
"Instructing individuals to parachute has always been in my opinion the most satisfying job at the drop zone," Mr Fuller wrote in an social media update in June.
"Observing students learn the skills and begin maneuvering their bodies is always a touching moment. Sometimes though, it can become quite chaotic up there when you let someone go for their initial attempt."
That same month he shared images of the damage a skydiving plane he was on saying the aircraft's motor had malfunctioned after departure. All 20 people onboard lived through the incident.
