Tandem Skydiver Dies Mid-Jump
A skydiving instructor - sharing a parachute with a novice on his first ever jump - apparently suffered a heart attack and died in mid-air, reports have said.
Instructor had been on thousands of dives throughout his career
The learner managed to parachute to the ground safely and tried to revive the teacher, in Chester County, South Carolina, US.
However, his lifesaving attempts were unsuccessful.
The pair had been skydiving in a tandem jump, which sees the instructor strapped to the back of the student.
Officials identified the instructor as 49-year-old George C "Chip" Steele of Sumter, South Carolina.
The first-time jumper was described as an active member of the military in his 30s, but his name was not immediately released.
Mr Steele worked for Skydive Carolina and had made thousands of jumps over a lengthy career.
Skydive Carolina general manager James LaBarrie said the death was the firm's second mid-air fatality in its 23-year history.
The other was in 1989, when a 42-year-old man who was an experienced jumper died after he apparently failed to open either his main or reserve chute.
Instructors at Skydive Carolina are required to get regular medical checkups, Mr LaBarrie said.
Divers take a 45-minute safety course before boarding an aircraft.
Once at an altitude of 13,500 feet, divers jump in two-person harnesses with their instructors.
