A tourist from the United Kingdom died and his instructor was injured in a tandem skydiving accident near the Grand Canyon on Sunday, according to a report.
The victim, identified as 55-year-old Christopher Swales, and his instructor suffered a “hard landing” after free-falling for an unknown distance about 15 minutes outside the South Rim of Grand Canyon National Park, the Coconino County Sheriff’s Office told The Arizona Republic.
The pair took off from Grand Canyon National Park Airport.
Swales was unconscious when medics arrived. He was declared dead at Flagstaff Medical Center, the report said.
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the incident.
“The FAA’s skydiving accident investigations typically look at whether the parachutes were properly packed by the appropriate people and, when it occurs during a tandem jump, whether the instructor had the required experience and credentials,” FAA Spokesman Ian Gregor said in an email to the paper.