Skydiver Falls to Death During High School Pre-Game Ceremony

A Tennessee man skydiving during a pre-game ceremony at a local high school football game has died following the hard landing last week.

In a statement, Washington County Schools Superintendent Jerry Boyd said the diver jumped at the David Crockett High School football stadium in the northeastern Tennessee town of Jonesborough. David Crockett was facing Daniel Boone High School for the Musket Bowl, an annual rivalry game.

Boyd said the skydiver was a beloved husband, father and grandfather while adding that mental health support professionals have been made available to staff and students.

A recent report from CBS News detailed the events of this skydiving accident. Below is an excerpt from the CBS News report.

Jump TN, a company in Greeneville, said in a statement that the 55-year-old man worked with the company and had performed more than 1,500 jumps during decades of experience.

In what it described as a “hard landing outside of the intended landing area,” the company said observers and witnesses did not notice anything unusual about the free fall or his parachute, saying it was deployed “without incident.” Witnesses “didn’t notice anything unusual about the parachute’s performance that would indicate any abnormality or malfunction,” the company said.

Witness video published by WJHL-TV showed the skydiver with his parachute deployed, rapidly descending in circles toward the ground as onlookers screamed.

To read the full story from CBS News about the death of a Tennessee skydiver, click here.