Fatality in Shreveport, Louisiana

A 28-year-old Shreveport man was killed Sunday after both his parachute and reserve chute failed to open in a 10,000-foot sky diving exercise near Downtown Airport. Jason Fisher was on a normal jump with three other members of Sport City Skydivers when he was killed. His body was found near the Red River levee about 200 yards north of the airport entrance, off the airport property.

It’s the second time since 1960 that a local sky diver has been killed in a jump there, said Bruce Deville, director of marketing for Air One. Deville described the accident as a "no pull" in which Fisher, who was described as an intermediate diver with little more than 25 jumps, "failed to pull anything.

"A no-pull situation like this is extremely rare," he said. "He also was wearing an automatic opener on his parachute and, for some reason unknown to us, it failed to open properly. Then he failed to pull his main and reserve parachutes."

Investigators said Fisher was found with his arms tucked close to his body, which might indicate he was trying to pry his chute open. The rip cord on his chute appeared to be broken, said Brian Crawford, spokesman for the Shreveport Fire Department.

Fisher landed head first, another indication to investigators that his body may have inverted in air while he struggled with his chute. "I think he was doing everything he could until the last minute," Crawford said. Fisher’s reserve chute "popped out on impact" in the accident that occurred about 4 p.m., said Shreveport police Sgt. C.K. Taylor.

"It’s a terrible thing. It’s a calm day with beautiful skies, and then this happens."

Detectives would interview the plane’s pilot and the other divers, and the Federal Aviation Administration will conduct an investigation, Taylor said.

He had jumped at Shreveport on a couple occasions, Deville said. Fisher’s intermediate status means he still was under some supervision but was cleared to jump on his own without supervision, Deville said.

"The young man pulled nothing. The parachute never had a chance to work," Deville said. "Before the jump, everybody was excited. But they’re all shook up right now."

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