UPDATE (02-07-19): DeLand police have identified the victim as 21-year-old Samantha Smith of DeLand. The original police statement had her age listed as 20.
According to witnesses at the scene, Smith's parachute was fully deployed when she tried to make a 270-degree turn in the air just before reaching the ground.
Those witnesses told police Smith wasn't able to stabilize in time and that's when she bounced off a gravel walkway, coming to a stop 15 feet away in the designated grass landing area.
The report noted that Smith is an experienced skydiver who had done six prior jumps that same day prior to the accident and that the wind speed at the time was four knots.
She's currently in critical but stable condition.
Earlier reporting below.
DeLand, FL - A 20-year-old woman is in critical condition at Halifax Health Medical Center after some sort of skydiving accident at DeLand Municipal Airport.
It happened around 5:30 last night (February 6th) just west of the Skydive DeLand airfield.
"She was airlifted to Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach," stated DeLand spokesperson Chris Graham.
Graham says the woman was skydiving when she had some sort of parachute issue and fell hard to the ground.
"Police are investigating the circumstances of the woman’s hard landing," Graham stated.
The woman suffered serious injuries to her face. She's not been identified by authorities at this time.
