Skydiver dies in accident near Lodi Parachute Center

May 25--One person died Wednesday in a parachute accident near the Lodi Parachute Center in Acampo, according to the Woodbridge Fire District.

Steve Butler, chief of the fire district, said emergency medical crews responded about 4:15 p.m. Wednesday to a vineyard off Jahant Road.

Butler said he had no additional details on the incident. He said San Joaquin County sheriff's investigators were at the scene, though there was no activity there early Wednesday evening.

Ian Gregor, a Federal Aviation Administration spokesman, said in an email that a skydiver who was using a wingsuit landed in a vineyard just north of Lodi Airport. The FAA will investigate the incident.

According to a wingsuit-flying website, a wingsuit is a specialized jumpsuit with two arm wings and a leg wing. A skydiver using a wingsuit deploys a parachute toward the end of a descent.

Three people died last year in accidents near the Lodi Parachute Center. One suffered a parachute malfunction in February 2016, while an instructor and student died during a tandem jump in August.

A tightly packed skydiving plane carrying 18 people also landed upside down in an Acampo vineyard last May, resulting in harrowing footage of the accident.

While there is no official count of fatalities, a review of news stories shows that at least 18 people have now died in Lodi-related parachute accidents since 1981.

Cathy Locke: 916-321-5287, @lockecathy

Related stories from The Sacramento Bee

Following Lodi deaths, Stockton lawmaker calls for state oversight of parachuting

Sky-dive instructor in fatal jump learned from teacher with suspended credential

Lodi skydiving deaths prompt order to retrain 140 instructors

Sky-dive instructor in fatal parachute jump was uncertified, association says

2 skydivers killed during a tandem jump

Parachutes didn't open in Lodi tandem skydiving deaths last month

Experience the Lodi skydiver plane crash

facebook twitter email Share

More Videos

Sacramento's most wanted: Punch-outs, shootouts, and a dangerous golf club 2:02

Sacramento's most wanted: Punch-outs, shootouts, and a dangerous golf club

Pause

Watch video captured from a Sacramento police body camera 1:23

Watch video captured from a Sacramento police body camera

Experience the Lodi skydiver plane crash 2:08

Experience the Lodi skydiver plane crash

Police warn parents of 'Blue Whale Challenge' fad 3:27

Police warn parents of 'Blue Whale Challenge' fad

Dazion Flenaugh quickly goes from calm to agitated in back of Sacramento police cruiser (explicit language) 2:41

Dazion Flenaugh quickly goes from calm to agitated in back of Sacramento police cruiser (explicit language)

Watch the police videos showing what happened before and after officers fatally shot mentally ill man (explicit language) 6:18

Watch the police videos showing what happened before and after officers fatally shot mentally ill man (explicit language)

Sacramento's most wanted: Robbery and assault have been on fugitives' to-do list 1:43

Sacramento's most wanted: Robbery and assault have been on fugitives' to-do list

Video shows bat-wielding robbers smash up jewelry store 0:15

Video shows bat-wielding robbers smash up jewelry store

Jailhouse interview with man who threw pie at Mayor Kevin Johnson 2:13

Jailhouse interview with man who threw pie at Mayor Kevin Johnson

Mulvaney on Trump's FY18 Budget: It's 'Taxpayer first' 1:47

Mulvaney on Trump's FY18 Budget: It's 'Taxpayer first'

Share Video

--

Video link:

Select

Embed code:

Select

-- facebook

-- twitter

-- email

Watch as a plane full of skydivers flips over and crashes and the skydivers escape the plane. Sebastian Alvarez was on the Cessna 208, wearing a helmet camera and capturing dramatic moments as the plane crashed in a Lodi vineyard, clipping a grapevine wire and flipping upside down on Thursday, May 12, 2016. Only the pilot was injured, suffering a bloody nose. The FAA said the plane experienced engine trouble just after takeoff from the Parachute Center skydiving school at the Lodi Airport in San Joaquin County. courtesy Sebastian Alvarez

___

(c)2017 The Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, Calif.)

Visit The Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, Calif.) at www.sacbee.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.