Parachute Doesn't Open During Tandem Jump, Instructor Killed After Impact, Student Miraculously Survives

Two skydivers came crashing to the ground during a tandem jump after both the main and backup parachutes malfunctioned, Texas police told news outlets.

One was an instructor and the other was a student, Skydive Houston, the business that conducted the jump, said in a statement shared Feb. 20.

They were taken to a hospital where the instructor later died, the statement said. The student is “suffering from serious, but non-life-threatening injuries at this time.”

Both jumpers, initially survived the fall with serious injuries, the Waller County Sheriff’s Department told KVUE.

The instructor was in “very critical” condition when the pair was flown by helicopter to a hospital on Saturday, Feb. 19, according to the outlet.

The skydivers landed in a residential area in the town of Waller, about 30 miles northeast of Houston.

Alex Arias, a neighborhood resident, told KPRC he saw the primary chute fail and the secondary chute deploy only partially, sending the skydivers plummeting like a “corkscrew.”

He ran over to help the jumpers, who were still clipped to one another, he told the outlet. The instructor was unconscious but the client was awake.