LAKE ELSINORE, Calif. (AP) — Two experienced skydivers participating in a skydiving event in Southern California were killed after colliding in mid-air and falling to the ground.
The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office on Saturday identified the two people who died as Georgia Jean, 56, of Box Elder, South Dakota, and Levi Pimentel, 29, of Aurora, Illinois.
Jean founded the company Circle Evolution, which “is the collaboration between the conscious channel Georgia Jean and the non-physical collective The Circle of Light,” according to the company’s website. Jean said in a biography that she started skydiving in 2015 and has completed more than 1,700 jumps.
Pimentel was listed on LinkedIn as a lead instructor at iFLY Naperville, an indoor skydiving company.
The accident happened around noon Friday at Skydive Elsinore, the company said in a statement, and both were licensed skydivers.
Riverside County firefighters said both men suffered traumatic injuries and were transported to a local hospital in critical condition.
Skydive Elsinore said the free fall from the dive and the opening of the parachutes was normal, but as they prepared to land, the two skydivers collided about 150 feet (about 46 meters) above the ground.
“The collision caused their parachutes to become entangled and both suffered serious injuries when they reached the ground,” Skydive Elsinore said in a statement. They were pronounced dead at the hospital.
The Federal Aviation Administration has been notified, the sheriff’s office said. She will recover the paratroopers’ parachutes and conduct an investigation.
The US Parachute Association reports that in 2025 its members made 3.47 million skydives and there were 16 deaths. The organization said 5.6 percent of members reported experiencing an injury requiring medical treatment, with the most common being ankle injuries during landings.
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