Instructor dead, student rescued after Tennessee skydiving incident

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A skydiving instructor died and another person was rescued Saturday afternoon after jumping out of a plane near a Tennessee highway.

First responders, including the Nashville Fire Department and Metro Nashville Police Department, were sent to a wooded area near Ashland City Highway just before 1 p.m. on Saturday for a high-angle rescue.

Police said a 46-year-old skydiving student and his instructor got stuck on the side of the plane in a tandem rig, but the instructor got separated from the rig and fell from the sky. Then the student’s emergency parachute reportedly deployed and he became lodged in a tree for several hours before an MNPD helicopter crew spotted him.

At 4:12 p.m., the NFD announced that fire personnel found the student and positioned several ladders to assist with the descent.

Just after 5 p.m., the NFD said a rescuer was able to free the skydiver from the harness and helped him down a ladder using a pulley system. The skydiver was reportedly awake and in stable condition but was taken to a local hospital as a precaution.

Meanwhile, the instructor, identified as Justin Robert Fuller, 35, of Murfreesboro, was believed to have fallen from the sky without a parachute and was not found for several hours, police said. Authorities later said that another MNPD helicopter crew found the man dead in the clearing of a wooded area near Ashland City Highway.

According to the MNPD, three other skydivers who jumped from the plane earlier, which later landed at John C. Tune Airport, made it to the ground safely.

The Federal Aviation Administration is reportedly investigating the skydiving incident. No additional information was immediately released.