Skydiving Trainer Dies Following Plummeting Lacking Safety Gear in Music City
Federal aviation authorities is looking into the fatality of a parachuting trainer after he became separated from his client during a jump in Nashville, Tennessee.
Police report instructor the instructor "is presumed to have dropped from the sky without a safety chute" during the jump on Saturday.
Fuller, 35 years old, appeared to have separated from his student and a dual harness, which links the pair during a jump and includes the parachute.
A law enforcement aircraft found the instructor's remains in a forested zone hours later. The Nashville Fire Department used multiple pieces of equipment to access the middle-aged student who survived the descent after being stuck on a tree for hours with the backup chute.
Officials said several additional jumps, which took place near Nashville's John C Tune airport, were carried out without incident before the fatal fall. The plane from which they jumped also landed safely.
It is unclear how Mr Fuller, an seasoned parachutist, got detached from the safety equipment.
A individual who helped rescue teams in the rescue informed a media outlet the student who authorities saved said "it was his first jump, and it was going to be his last".
Mr Fuller had previously posted about his enthusiasm for instructing people how to skydive.
"Teaching people to parachute has consistently been in my view the most rewarding role at the jump site," Mr Fuller said in an Instagram post in the summer.
"Observing students figure it out and begin maneuvering their selves is consistently a heartwarming experience. Occasionally though, it can get a little hectic up there when you let someone go for their initial attempt."
That same month he posted images of the damage a skydiving plane he was on saying the plane's engine had malfunctioned after departure. Every individual aboard survived.