A woman was injured skydiving at Skydive DeLand Tuesday morning, leading to relatively minor injuries according to city officials. The injury, which was first reported in the Daytona Beach News-Journal, follows a fatal accident at Skydive DeLand earlier this month.
The latest incident happened around 11:00 am, in which a woman landed hard at the end of her skydive, leading to minor injuries. She was taken for non-emergency medical treatment and is expected to fully recover.
The other incident occurred on April 1st, when 42-year-old Giulianno Scotti apparently collided with another skydiver mid-air. His body was later discovered at the 1600 block of Lexington Ave in DeLand, where he was pronounced dead after life-saving measures did not revive him. Scotti was originally from Brazil, but moved to DeLand at some point recently and became a frequent customer at Skydive DeLand.
Scotti's next-of-kin were notified of his passing, and the Volusia County Medical Examiner's Office was then tasked with performing an autopsy. The skydiver who collided with Scotti in mid-air was also treated for minor injuries.
Skydiving as a whole has a death rate of 0.27 per 100,000 jumps, according to data from the United States Parachute Association. Skydive DeLand, being a particularly active skydiving location, has had double-digit fatalities in the last two decades. "Many of the accidents occur because the jumper - oftentimes an experienced skydiver who is pushing the limits - makes an error in judgment while landing a perfectly functioning parachute," the USPA said about these accidents.
