A skydiving cinematographer was killed after his legs were severed in a midair collision with the airplane he had jumped from, authorities said.
Albert ”Gus” Wing III had already deployed his parachute on Saturday when he struck the left wing of the DHC-6 Twin Otter propeller plane at about 180m, a witness on the ground told police.
Both of Wing’s legs were severed at the knees, but he managed to maneuver his parachute and land near the DeLand airport, about 65km north of Orlando, DeLand police commander Randel Henderson said.
He was airlifted to a hospital, where he later died, Henderson said.
Fourteen other skydivers were in the air at the time of the accident, Federal Aviation Administration spokesperson Holly Baker said. The plane landed safely.
The FAA and National Transportation Safety Board are investigating.
Authorities said they were not certain whether Wing had been filming at the time of the accident and no camera was found.
Wing owned a production company, Flying Wings Production, according to the website of the company that organised Saturday’s jump, Skydive DeLand. ‒ Sapa-AP