A man died while skydiving in Lodi on Saturday. The San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Dept. said his parachute didn’t open properly which caused him to hit a wall.
The Red Dog Skydiving group said he was an experienced skydiver and the group's cameraman.
“He was a great camera flyer,” Ronald Put, a member of the Red Dog Skydiving group, said. “He will be missed.”
Put was on the same jump as the skydiver who died.
“Everything appeared normal but as soon as we landed I heard someone had fallen out of the group,” Put said. “All I’ve heard is that he was tumbling on the last, say, a thousand feet or so down to earth.”
Hours after the accident the group was getting ready for another jump.
“If something like this were to happen to me, I would want the group to do the exact same thing: continue,” Put said.
His teammates took a moment to remember him and did a 'missing man' formation in the air in his honor.
“It was almost warm family-like moment for us to remember him in that way,” Put said.
Deputies said accidents like this have happened before in Lodi but not within the last year.
“It's a beautiful sport but it has a dark side,” Put said “Today that dark side showed itself.”