Two skydivers have tragically died after their parachutes tangled mid-air. Both were experienced in the thrill-seeking sport. 70-year-old Ermes Zampa and 63-year-old Violetta Laiketsion died after plummeting to their deaths.
Prior to the accident, Zampa had done more than 2,000 jumps. He had been skydiving for three decades and worked as a skydiving instructor. Meanwhile, Laiketsion had performed more than 6,000 jumps herself.
Both skydivers died after jumping at Fano, Italy on December 14. They were participating in a group of 14 skydivers for a group jump. Strangely, Zampa jumped first and Laiketsion was the last of the group to jump. However, when they were about 30 meters from landing, the two go too close to each other. Their parachutes became tangled causing them to plummet to their deaths.
Roberto Mascio, director of Skydive Fano, said: "Someone at the airfield filmed the incident while the parachutists were descending. The video was taken by the authorities. In the footage, you could see the two canopies touching and then collapsing. In that situation, you're really too close to the ground to make a decision, there's very little time."
Skydivers Die
He confirmed, "Only a few seconds passed between impact and crash; it was a disaster."
The director mourned the deaths of the skydivers.
He added, "I've known Violetta and Ermes for a long time; seeing what happened is truly painful. They had done countless jumps: Violetta had over 6,000, and Ermes over 2,000, and he was also an instructor."
However, he believes that human error played a factor in their deaths.
He said: "Lately, accidents are mainly due to human error; all it takes is a moment of distraction, and you don't realise how close you are to another canopy. Then, by the time you realize, you're already too low to do anything. Two years ago, a similar accident occurred in Reggio Emilia, also involving two instructors."
He added, "This is a loss that deeply affects the community of Fano and the skydiving community."
The police are investigating the deaths.
