Skydiver Dies After Mid-Air Collision With Girlfriend

An experienced skydiver has died after a mid-air collision with his girlfriend, according to reports.

The incident occurred in Ricaurte—a municipality in the department of Cundinamarca, central Colombia—where the skydiver worked as an instructor of the extreme sport, Noticias Caracol reported.

The man, 43-year-old Julio Fredy Pardo, had made more than 3,000 successful jumps in his life, making him one of the most experienced skydivers in the country.

While skydiving is considered to be an extreme sport, injuries and fatalities are rare. With modern equipment and training methods, skydiving fatalities occur in less than one per 100,000 cases, according to a 2023 study published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health.

The systematic review also found that serious injuries requiring hospitalization occur in less than two per 10,000 cases.

"This puts the assessment of skydiving as a high-risk sport into perspective," the study authors wrote.

But a jump with his partner—fellow skydiver Andrea Cubides—on Friday, July 21, ended up costing Pardo his life.

An accident occurred after the pair jumped out of the plane and opened their parachutes.

Shortly after, Pardo's head accidentally struck Cubides' right leg at high speed with great force, reportedly causing his death. The collision also resulted in Cubides suffering multiple fractures in her right leg.

Following the impact, Cubides managed to maneuver herself to the designated landing zone, despite her injuries.

But Pardo descended in an erratic circular pattern until striking the ground in an area close to the landing zone, El Tiempo reported.

Witnesses and security forces arrive at the scene of the impact and found the skydiver's body lying face down with his parachute fully deployed and no helmet. Authorities said the 43-year-old is suspected to have died in the impact with Cubides' leg.

"There was an accident, things that extreme sports bring. Here there is no blame, you don't have to blame anyone for what happened—they are simply the consequences that occur on these occasions," Cubides told Noticias Caracol.

"It is a very complex moment, it is very hard, emotionally and physically, but [I am] trying to put the best energy into recovery to improve as soon as possible," Cubides said.

Ricardo Ospina, President of the Colombian Air Sports Federation (Fedeaereos), told El Tiempo that the accident was due to "human error" as a result of malpractice.

"It was necessary for the skydivers to have sufficient separation, which was not achieved on this occasion. What happened is very unfortunate; that is why we call on skydivers to become aware and improve practices to avoid this type of accident," Ospina said.

The Fedeaereos president told Noticias Caracol that having sufficient separation between people who are jumping in a group when the parachutes open is important since it is one of the "most critical" moments in the execution of a jump.

The Office of the Attorney General of Colombia is now investigating the incident.