Fallen skydiver was from Colorado
A memorial for two fallen jumpers stands at Skydive Lost Prairie as a skydiver walks toward a plane to join others in the last jump of the day Wednesday evening. Skydiving instructors Joel Atkinson of Kalispell and David Landeck Jr. of Missoula, along with three others, died in 2007 when their skydiving plane crashed at Lost Prairie. On Wednesday, a Colorado Springs, Colo., skydiver died in a parachuting accident at Lost Prairie.
Garl “Mike” Newby, 57, of Colorado Springs, Colo., has been identified as the skydiver who died Wednesday evening at Lost Prairie.
Newby died after his reserve parachute deployed too late, according to Geno Cook, patrol commander for the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office.
Newby was in a group of parachuters who jumped out of a plane at 13,000 feet.
The parachuters completed a formation and were deploying their main chutes when Newby’s became entangled with another man’s.
The other parachuter was able to remove his main chute and deployed his reserve chute in time, according to a Sheriff’s Office press release.
Newby managed to remove his main chute but could not deploy his reserve parachute in time.
The fatal accident occurred during the Skydive Lost Prairie Boogie, a 10-day skydiving festival conducted annually at the jump center near Marion about 30 miles west of Kalispell.
The accident caused a short delay in jumping, but the skydiving event later resumed.
Fred Sand, owner of Skydive Lost Prairie, described Newby as a “very, very experienced skydiver.”
“He had probably been coming up here for 10-plus years if not more,” Sand said.
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the incident.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.