No Explanation For How He Became Separated From His Student Jumper

A skydiving instructor somehow became separated from his student after deploying a the parachute during a tandem jump last Thursday and fell to the ground, resulting in his fatal injury.

The instructor was employed by Skydive New England, according to a report from the the Portland, ME Press Herald newspaper. The instructor was identified as Brett Bickford, 41 of Rochester, NH.

The flight originated at Lebanon Airport (KLEB) in Maine, Thursday. During the jump, Bickford somehow became separated from his student and the parachute after the canopy was deployed. The student reportedly landed safely.

It took more than a day before Bickford's body was located about 750 feet southwest of the Lebanon Airport runway by a multi-agency search and rescue team.

The paper contacted Ryan Scutt, a skydiving instructor from Bennington, VT to comment on the accident. "I’ve never once heard of anything like this happening," Scutt said. "The idea of the instructor not being in the harness anymore or falling out is essentially unheard of. He said he did not know of any way that a tandem pair can become disconnected once the two harnesses are attached.

(Image from file. Not accident instructor or student)

FMI: Original report