A skydiver who died in a devastating midair collision in Southern California had once written about fearing she might be a “deathwish time bomb,” according to a blog post published nearly a decade ago.
Georgia Jean, 56, of South Dakota, and Levi Pimentel, 29, of Illinois, were killed Friday when their parachutes became entangled during a jump near Lake Elsinore, sending them plunging to the ground.
Jean, who described herself as a mystic and former comedian, reflected on her difficult introduction to skydiving in a 2015 blog entry that now reads as an unsettling premonition of the tragedy.
Jean wrote that she failed the first stage of her skydiving training three times before an instructor told her she “just can’t skydive.”
She said she eventually overcame those setbacks, along with the persistent fear that she could become a “deathwish time bomb.”
“Whether my instructor was right or not about limitations my body/mind had… I was able to overcome them, AND the incredible fear that I might be a ‘deathwish time bomb’ just waiting to go off,” Jean wrote.
According to her Facebook page, Jean later competed in the sport. In 2024, she earned a bronze medal with the team “First Froth” in a mixed-formation skydiving competition.
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Pimentel was an experienced skydiver who worked as the lead instructor at iFLY Naperville, an indoor skydiving center in Illinois.
She had been with the company for more than eight years and led training camps for people learning the sport, according to her LinkedIn profile.
On Facebook, Pimentel described herself as an “optimist” and a “hoper of far-flung hopes and dreamer of improbable dreams.”
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The two skydivers were acquainted before the fatal jump. In an August social media post, Jean said she was interested in attending one of Pimentel’s tunnel-training camps in 2027.
Both were visiting the area from outside California and apparently made the jump together, Skydive Elsinore said.
The skydiving operator reported that neither person experienced a mechanical malfunction. Both parachutes deployed at the expected altitude, and officials found no reported abnormalities during the freefall.
Skydive Elsinore, which operates in California’s Inland Empire, said it was mourning the loss.
“Skydive Elsinore extends its deepest condolences to the families, friends, and loved ones of both skydivers, and is grieving alongside all those affected,” the company said.
Winds were strong at the time, with gusts reaching approximately 20 mph. Investigators have not determined whether the weather contributed to the collision.
The pair were roughly 150 feet above the ground when their parachutes became entangled. First responders found both skydivers at an airfield with “major traumatic injuries.”
They were taken to Inland Valley Medical Center, where both were pronounced dead.
The Federal Aviation Administration has been notified and will collect the parachutes as part of its investigation, the Associated Press reported.
