Fatal Birthday Gift: Skydivers Plunged to their Deaths

Fatal Birthday Gift: Skydivers Plunged to their Deaths

Las Vegas — A supposed to be a special birthday gift given to a grandmother turned out to be a nightmare causing the untimely deaths of Claudette Porter, 75 years old, and James Fonnesbeck, a skydiving instructor. The two died Sunday near the border of Nevada-Arizona when both their parachutes did not open and accidentally caused their deaths. Fonnesbeck, one of Elvis Presley’s impersonators, had managed to execute a hard stunt in the movie Honeymoon in Vegas by jumping off from an airplane. He is also a veteran skydiving instructor.

Jim Porter, the husband of Claudette Porter, said he could always remember how his wife wanted so much skydiving for the past 20 years. The outing together with a skydiving adventure was arranged by a granddaughter as a birthday present to Claudette Porter who celebrated her birthday last month. Once in a while, things like these happen and it’s painful since you can’t do something about it, Porter said.

Jeffrey Smith, spokesperson of Mesquite police, said that the main parachute failed to open while the backup chute had intertwined with the main chute when it was deployed. The backup chute partially opened but already too late when the two fell badly on the runway of the airport. Fonnesback died instantly while Porter died in the hospital.

Posted by James Fried on Tuesday October 11 2011, 4:32 AM EST. Ref: Google. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Nation. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0