Colombian Woman, 28, Identified As Skydiver Who Died After Hitting Big Rig In Acampo
ACAMPO (CBS13) – A Colombian woman has been identified as the person killed after a jump at the Skydive Lodi Parachute Center on Thursday.
According to the San Joaquin County Coroner's Office, the woman who died was 28-year-old Colombian national Maria Robledo Vallejo.
She collided with a big rig, then hit the shoulder of Highway 99 near Jahant Road, while making her descent on Thursday.
Vallejo died at the scene.
RELATED: Parachuter Dies After Colliding With Big Rig On Hwy. 99 In Acampo
Friday, the owner of the Skydive Lodi Parachute Center answered questions about the incident.
"Why she went that far downwind, nobody knows," said owner Bill Dause. "It's a decision she made."
Dause noted that Vallejo was an experienced skydiver with more than 150 jumps.
"Was it windy? Yes. Was it too windy? No, not for her experience level," Dause said.
Skydive Lodi Parachute Center bills itself as one of the largest and oldest drop zones in the US. Thursday's incident is the latest in a string of deadly jumps.
Six people have died in just the last four years in jumps that originated from the center.
One of the center's planes also crashed into a field in another incident. Everyone onboard surved.
The center also had a near-accident when an 81-year-old woman nearly slipped out of her harness during a tandem jump in 2012.
