A novice skydiver’s bad fortune ended with authorities marveling at her good luck after firefighters and Southern California Edison workers freed her from power lines 35 feet above the ground during a failed landing attempt near Skydive Elsinore on Monday, March 27.
“We don’t know how she avoided electrocution, but she did,” said Battalion Chief Jeff Roberts of the Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department.
“She walked away without a scratch,” said Josh Hall, the skydiving facility’s general manager.
Edison spokesperson Reggie Kumar attributed the woman’s survival to how she landed.
“She’s not touching two power lines at the same time. If a bird were to touch two power lines at once, it would create a circuit, electricity would flow through the bird and likely electrocute the bird,” Kumar said.
Kumar also noted that the parachute cords do not conduct electricity.
The student had completed her classroom work and, Monday morning, a refresher course, said Hall, who said he spoke with the student after the crash. She jumped by herself, but an instructor also jumped about the same time.
“The jumper is a student skydiver and was making her first jump flying her own parachute system,” Hall said. “The parachute opened properly and was in perfect working order. At some point during the parachute descent, the jumper became confused and flew away from an open landing area and into power lines.”
A 911 caller reported just before noon that a skydiver had been “electrocuted,” Roberts said, but when firefighters arrived they found the woman alive and talking, even though the power pole was buzzing.
“The issue we had was she was stuck next to two transformers and next to high-tension lines,” Roberts said. “Edison figured she didn’t touch anything or get grounded.”
Edison workers cut off the electricity. Those workers maneuvered a cherry picker next to her, and firefighters positioned the ladder from their truck to just below her.
At about 1 p.m., a firefighter cut the skydiver’s parachute and guided her onto the ladder. The woman appeared to have a look of relief on her face.
Medics examined the woman, who declined further treatment, Roberts said.
Roberts said firefighters train to rescue people from high places, holes in the ground, tunnels and bridges.
“This was great for the guys,” Roberts said. “What they learn in training, they were able to utilize it.”
There were some 130,000 jumps at Skydive Elsinore in 2022, Hall said. Almost without exception, they are completed safely, though Roberts said medics sometimes are called to treat jumpers who land hard.
“Something like this is extremely rare,” Hall said.
