A “highly experienced” British skydiver was one of two men who were killed when a world record parachute jump attempt in the US went terribly wrong.
Keiron O’Rourke, 40, collided in mid-air with German Bernd Schmehl, 51, at the event in Arizona. Their canopies deflated when they smashed into each other less than 300ft from the ground. Mr Schmehl died at the scene, while Mr O’Rourke was rushed to hospital but was unable to be saved. Another jumper was injured in an unrelated mid-air collision.
The parachutists were among 200 people taking part in a coordinated jump when the tragedy happened just after 5pm on Tuesday in Eloy, a popular skydiving destination. Mr O’Rourke, from Sheffield, a director at Road Safety UK, had jumped about 850 times, including 100 in the last six months, according to police.
Friends today paid tribute to the extreme sports enthusiast. Staff at Rotherham-based fitness shop Streetwise Supplements wrote online: “Terrible news tonight as we loose (sic) a friend. Keiron O’Rourke as (sic) sadly been taken from us. All the Streetwise Crew are thinking of you and your family. God bless you all.”
In a statement police spokesman Sergeant Brian Jerome said: “There were early reports that the mid-air collision involved three skydivers.
“Investigators have determined there was a third skydiver injured. However, the injury was not related to or caused by the mid-air collision between the other two skydivers.”
Skydive Arizona described the two victims as “highly experienced skydivers” and said they were participating in an “invitational 200-skydiver record attempt”. The other injured skydiver had “a hard landing and suffered a back injury”, it said. “There were no problems related to aircraft or equipment. Weather conditions were good and the accidents occurred on the fifth group jump of the day.”
