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Experienced Skydiver Latest To Die At Acampo Skydiving Facility

ACAMPO (CBS13) - Sabrina Call, 57, from Watsonville, was identified Monday by San Joaquin County coroner's officials as the woman who fell to her death in Acampo after her primary parachute and reserve parachute tangled together.

Call's long-time friend Glenda Williams says Call was the bravest person she'd ever met. She had just gotten married in September, and Williams says she and her husband had connected over their love of jumping out of airplanes.

"She just had a great spirit. She was just a free spirit, but very smart and funny and had a contagious smile," said Williams.

Call was an experienced skydiver with 2,000  thousand jumps under her belt.

On Monday, the owner of Skydive Lodi Parachute Center, Bill Dause, commented on the weekend tragedy.

"Skydiving is a high-risk activity. A lot of people are here not necessarily because of the direct risk, but because of the risk," he said.

Call's death is the 22nd at the facility since 1981.

The facility had recently made headlines after a judge ordered it to pay $40 million to the family of Tyler Turner, an 18-year-old who died in a 2016 accident at the site.

According to the United States Parachute Association, in 2020 out of nearly 3 million jumps, there were only 11 deaths.

The Lodi facility is not a USPA member, which is normally held to a certain safety standard. The USPA couldn't comment on whether this​ facility also follows those same protocols.

"There are more fatalities in our sport related to more experienced skydivers than there are with students," said USPA Executive Director Albert Berchtold.

Williams said, her friend had so much life left to live.

"Her passion for other people is such a good example for all of us and that will be missed on this earth," she said.

The FAA is investigating Call's death, and the facility says it will conduct its own internal investigation.

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