Skydiving teacher killed in tandem jump

LUMBERTON, Mississippi:

A skydiving instructor from Pensacola, Florida, died in a remote swamp after a tandem jump that hospitalised his student, Lamar County Sheriff Danny Rigel said yesterday.

James 'Jimmie' Horak Jr, 56, an instructor for the Emerald Coast Skydiving Center in Elberta, Alabama, died Saturday in a swamp about a mile from the airport in Lumberton, Mississippi. He was safety-conscious and had made more than 8,000 dives, said his wife, Debbie Horak.

Rigel said he could not identify the student, but believes the man was from outside Mississippi.

Three other skydivers who jumped with them told investigators that equipment appeared to malfunction, Rigel said yesterday.

"They said something appeared to be not right. There appeared to be some entanglement with the lines, but I'm not qualified to say what that was or even speculate about it," he said.

Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspectors will look at whether the parachutes were properly rigged by a qualified rigger and whether the parachute operation met FAA regulations, but local authorities will investigate the accident and determine probable cause, FAA spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen said in an email yesterday.

The sheriff's office was called at 1:40 p.m. Saturday, more than three hours after the jump, Rigel said. He said he did not know the reason for the delay.

The owner of a hunting lease for the area found the men and the student was taken to Forrest General Hospital. A nursing supervisor there said the family had not authorised release of any information about him.

An autopsy is planned for Horak, probably today, Rigel said.

"We had to hand-carry him out. We still don't know what the cause of death was or what caused the malfunction," Rigel said.