Two women have died after colliding in midair during a skydiving jump in Southern California.
Levi Pimentel, 29, from Illinois, and Georgia Jean, 56, from South Dakota, were visiting Skydive Elsinore on November 6.
According to NBC, a witness said the jump appeared “normal” and “uneventful” until the women deployed their parachutes. They collided roughly 150 feet above the ground, leaving their canopies tightly tangled.
Both women were transported to Inland Valley Medical Center in Wildomar, where they were pronounced dead.
In a Facebook statement, Skydive Elsinore said the pair were “experienced, licensed skydivers.”
The center said they had traveled to the area to take part in an organized skydiving event.
Northeasterly winds were recorded throughout the region, with gusts of up to 20 mph reported near March Air Reserve Base, about 14 miles from the facility.
Investigators have not determined whether weather conditions played a role in the fatal collision.
Skydive Elsinore said there was no apparent evidence of equipment failure and that it was cooperating with local authorities.
Georgia Jean, 56, of South Dakota, died after her parachute became entangled with another skydiver’s about 150 feet above the ground in California
Levi Pimentel, 29, of Illinois, died alongside Georgia Jean after the two experienced skydivers collided in midair
Jean, who described herself as a mystic and former comedian, once worried that she was a “deathwish time bomb” after struggling during her early skydiving training.
In a 2015 blog post, she wrote that she had failed the first stage of training three times before an instructor told her she “just can’t skydive.”
Rather than abandon the sport, Jean persevered, overcame her fears and went on to become an accomplished skydiver.
“Whether my instructor was right or not about limitations my body/mind had… I was able to overcome them, AND the incredible fear that I might be a ‘deathwish time bomb’ just waiting to go off,” she wrote.
Jean eventually completed more than 1,700 jumps. Her achievements also included a bronze medal with the team First Froth at a mixed-formation skydiving competition in 2024, according to her Facebook page.
Pimentel was equally active in the sport. For more than eight years, she worked at iFLY Naperville, an Illinois indoor skydiving facility, where she was a lead instructor.
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She also arranged training camps for people seeking to advance their skydiving skills and described herself on Facebook as an “optimist” and a “hoper of far-flung hopes and dreamer of improbable dreams.”
The two women knew each other before the jump that claimed their lives.
Pimentel was a lead instructor at iFLY Naperville in Illinois, where she spent more than eight years teaching others to skydive
Jean, a self-described mystic and former comedian, once feared she was a “deathwish time bomb” after repeatedly failing her initial skydiving training
The experienced instructor also organized specialized indoor skydiving camps to help aspiring jumpers develop their skills
Jean wrote in a 2015 blog post that an instructor had told her she “just can’t skydive,” but she refused to quit and ultimately completed more than 1,700 jumps
The New York Post reported that Jean had expressed interest in attending one of Pimentel’s skydiving tunnel camps in 2027 in an August social media post.
Both women had traveled from out of state for the organized event at Skydive Elsinore.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the women were training as part of an effort to set a skydiving record.
The group was seeking to establish a California record for the largest formation of women skydivers flying in an upright position, the newspaper reported.
Fellow skydiver Chazi Rutz said the team had planned a 19-person formation, which would have surpassed the existing record of 12.
Facility officials reiterated that there was no apparent indication of equipment problems and said they were fully assisting the local investigation.
“Skydive Elsinore extends its deepest condolences to the families, friends, and loved ones of both skydivers, and is grieving alongside all those affected,” the organization said in a statement.
Recent figures from the United States Parachute Association put the overall US skydiving fatality rate at approximately 0.46 deaths per 100,000 jumps.
The association says equipment malfunctions are rarely responsible for fatalities. Landing incidents, delayed emergency procedures and canopy collisions are identified as the three leading causes of death.
The Daily Mail contacted Skydive Elsinore and the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office for additional comment.