Two men killed in skydiving accident near Lodi

Two men were killed Saturday morning making a tandem jump at a skydiving center near Lodi, authorities said.

The San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office received a call of a skydiver down at the Parachute Center in Acampo around 10 a.m., Sgt. Brandon Riley said. When deputies arrived, they found two men dead in a vineyard.

It appeared the parachute did not deploy until after impact, Sheriff’s Deputy Les Garcia told the Associated Press.

The names of the victims have not been released, but they were males apparently in their 20s. One was an instructor, Riley said. The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the incident.

Parachute Center owner Bill Dause told KCRA-TV the instructor in Saturday’s deadly jump was an independent contractor who has made about 700 jumps.

“The parachute failed to eject properly. We have no explanation why,� Dause said. “The only thing it looks like is something may have gone out of sequence (and) that may have caused the problem.�

The Acampo center has experienced other incidents in recent years. In May, the National Transportation Safety Board investigated the forced landing of a small plane operated by the Parachute Center. Two years ago, professional skier Timy Dutton died there after colliding in midair with another skydiver, according to the Sacramento Bee.

The FAA has repeatedly proposed fines against the Acampo center for alleged safety and regulatory violations.

Dause told the Sacramento Bee earlier this year that those proposed fines were ultimately dropped. The FAA was unable to immediately confirm Saturday whether the fines had been imposed.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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UPDATES:

11:05 p.m.: Updated with details and quotes from the Associated Press.

This article was first posted at 2:50 p.m.