A skydiver died after colliding with another skydiver during a jump over Orange, Massachusetts, according to reports.
Robert Szabo, aged 62 and from Connecticut, passed away three days following a skydive from a Jumptown Skydiving aircraft, as reported by Orange Fire Chief James Young, according to WBZ-TV.
On October 4, Szabo collided with another skydiver during the jump. The other skydiver was uninjured, although Szabo was fatally hurt when he landed despite his parachute functioning properly, according to the report.
“The injured jumper landed on airport property under a fully functioning parachute,” Jumptown said in a statement to the outlet.
Szabo was transported to a hospital in nearby Worcester where he was taken off of a ventilator on Tuesday following a very negative MRI.
The exact cause of Szabo’s death is still pending determination by the Medical Examiner, with the Northwestern District Attorney’s office conducting an ongoing investigation, as stated in the report.
Szabo was a staff member at Connecticut Parachutists, a skydiving club in Ellington, CT, that report stated.
Connecticut Parachutists released a statement, saying, “Whether he greeted you with a smile or his signature eye roll, it was the warmest one around,” reported WBZ-TV.
“We will always remember his kindness, patience, and generosity with his time and skill.”
Szabo was a longtime plane-jumper who had competed in competitions and won several awards, according to that organization’s website.
This incident marks the second skydiving fatality at Jumptown within a decade. In 2018, 27-year-old Alexis Zayas died after colliding with a barn, as reported by The Greenfield Recorder.
In another incident in 2022, a Jumptown skydiver was severely injured when his parachute became tangled, causing him to make a hard landing on the roof of a building, WBZ-TV reported.
