A 46-year-old Arizona man died while skydiving Saturday after authorities say he suffered a “hard landing” when his parachute did not deploy, an incident that comes just eight days after the death of another parachutist in the same area.
Officers found Shawn Bowen of Gibert, Arizona, dead from injuries he sustained during the landing near Hanna and Tweedy Road after receiving reports of a parachutist “experiencing a hard landing,” the Eloy Police Department said.
Bowen jumped around 11:40 a.m. using “a wingsuit-type apparatus,” police said, citing preliminary information.
“During freefall, for reasons that remain unknown at this time, his parachute did not deploy, resulting in fatal impact,” police said.
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Investigators are interviewing witnesses and coordinating with the Federal Aviation Administration, (FAA), which it says is standard practice.
Police said Bowen’s wife had been notified of his death.
An autopsy was scheduled for later in the week as police continue to investigate any factors that contributed to the accident.
Bowen’s death comes just eight days after police in Eloy responded to the death of another parachutist.
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Ann Wick, a 55-year-old Minnesota resident, died while parachuting at Skydive Arizona on Jan. 24 in Eloy after experiencing complications during the descent, police have said.
Skydive Arizona said at the time that eyewitness accounts indicated the free fall phase of Wick’s skydive appeared normal, with the parachute deploying as expected. Despite the parachute deploying fully as designed, observers noted the “canopy was turning,” the company said.
The witnesses told the company the parachutist did not appear to take corrective actions, and a reserve parachute was not deployed.
Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
