A skydiver in California required the assistance of local firefighters after she crashed into high-tension power lines.
NBCLA reports the incident took place on Monday in Riverside County, when a skydiver, who earlier made her first jump from Skydive Elsinore, which operates a private landing strip just a block north of where she ended up, got tangled up in the power lines.
“So I was trying to miss that power line, then I turned a hard right and then I went into the other power line,” she told the news outlet. “I don’t know if I’m going to jump again. Probably not.”
A witness admitted they were surprised she was “still alive” after hearing the crash.
“We heard a pop,” Eddie Guillen said. “We didn’t see anything at first, then saw her stuck up there. Then we saw her moving and thought, ‘Oh my gosh, she’s still alive.’”
#CorydonIC [UPDATE]: Patient was extricated by an aerial ladder from the high tension lines. Patient was assessed and declined further medical treatment. Resources available shortly.
Skydive Elsinore released its own statement about the incident, confirming that the woman was a student skydiver and was making her first jump flying her own parachute.
“The parachute opened properly and was in perfect working order,” the company said. “At some point during the parachute descent, the jumper became confused and flew away from an open landing area and into to powerlines.
Skydive Elsinore added, “The incident is still under investigation and as further details become available, we will be happy to release that information. We conduct over 100,000 skydives annually and this type of incident is an extremely rare occurrence. We want to apologize to our neighbors for any inconvenience this may have caused.”
