Man dies in skydiving accident

Staff report

Springfield

A western Pennsylvania man died in a skydiving accident near the Petersburg Airport on Sunday afternoon.

The owner of the skydiving school that the man was jumping with, Skydive Rick’s, said the man, in his mid-60s, became tangled in the lines of his parachute.

Rick Kuhns said the man was able to jettison his main parachute, but his reserve did not open properly, and he hit the ground too hard.

The man, who was taken to St. Elizabeth Boardman Hospital, was not being identified late Sunday afternoon.

Vindicator news partner 21 WFMJ-TV said he is from Saxonburg, Pa., near Butler.

Kuhns said the man had jumped before, though it was years ago in the military. He was taking lessons through the school, and it was his first jump with Skydive Rick’s.

Kuhns said he has been jumping for 48 years, and it is the first time in the 36-year history of the school that such an accident has occurred.

“It’s pretty shocking,” he said, adding that his and his wife’s hearts go out to the victim’s family.

The school is a family business, owned by Kuhn’s and his wife, Kay, he said.

A Springfield Township police officer on duty Sunday said police responded to the accident, but there was no report on file.