Two licensed skydivers died after colliding about 150 feet above the ground, when their parachutes became tangled during landing at Skydive Elsinore in California.
Story Snapshot
- Facility says freefall and parachute openings were normal before a low-altitude collision.
- Entangled parachutes prevented safe landing; both suffered traumatic injuries and died.
- Officials reported no sign of equipment malfunction at this stage, with inquiries ongoing.
- Event occurred around midday during an organized jump in Lake Elsinore.
What Investigators Say Happened During the Jump
Skydive Elsinore reported that the freefall went as planned and both parachutes opened normally. As the jumpers prepared to land, they collided at about 150 feet above the ground. The impact caused their parachutes to tangle together, which removed the lift they needed to slow down. Riverside County responders treated both for severe injuries. Both were taken to a hospital, where they died from those injuries, according to news reports citing local authorities.
Authorities identified the location as Skydive Elsinore in Lake Elsinore, California. Reports placed the incident around noon on Friday during an organized event with experienced, licensed participants. The facility’s account of the sequence has been carried by several outlets, including ABC7, the Associated Press, and others, which echoed the key detail that the collision happened very low and led to entangled parachutes that could not recover enough drag to land safely.
Equipment Status and the Focus of the Inquiry
Skydive Elsinore said there was no sign of equipment failure at this point. That description appeared in multiple reports, including NBC Los Angeles, USA Today, and The New York Times. Federal authorities were expected to review the parachutes, and local investigators continued their work. That means the current report describes what the host facility saw and shared, while formal findings will come from official reviews after evidence checks are complete.
Weather details in coverage included wind gusts reported at a military base about 14 miles away. NBC Los Angeles noted those gusts reached about 20 miles per hour, but the reporting did not link that data to a proven role in this incident. The published stories do not yet say why the two parachutes converged in the landing pattern or what maneuvering led to their paths crossing at such a low height.
How This Fits Known Skydiving Risks
United States Parachute Association summaries show that skydiving fatalities are rare when compared to the total number of jumps. In 2024, about 3.88 million jumps led to nine fatalities nationwide, a rate of 0.23 per 100,000 jumps. In 2025, there were 16 fatalities, with a rate of 0.46 per 100,000 jumps. Those numbers help frame risk but do not change the gravity of a single event like this one.
Canopy collisions, where two jumpers contact each other under open parachutes, are an ongoing but smaller share of fatal events. United States Parachute Association reports list canopy collisions at around 11 to 12 percent of fatalities over long periods. That pattern shows why landing pattern discipline, spacing, and altitude awareness matter so much near the ground, where options to recover are limited and time is short.
JUST IN: Investigators and the FAA are looking into a midair collision that killed two licensed skydivers near Lake Elsinore. See who's covering it. #Skydivinghttps://t.co/uBVhQcPcW2 pic.twitter.com/pJCV7T1LSv
— Ib (@pushnowornever) November 7, 2026
Sources:
nypost.com, people.com, abc7.com, jems.com, apnews.com, nytimes.com, edition.cnn.com, uspa.org
