Dramatic video taken Wednesday in Titusville, Florida, shows two skydivers who were jumping in tandem, spiraling to the ground after their parachute failed to open properly.
The two men, a student and teacher, were flown to a trauma center Wednesday morning after they crashed in the front yard of a home. Photos posted by the Titusville Fire Department showed debris from a tree in the front yard, along with two parachutes.
Video of the fall taken by witnesses and posted online shows the two skydivers, who were harnessed together, spiraling toward the ground. The pair landed on a tree, before falling to the grass below, WESH reported. Both the student skydiver and his teacher were reportedly conscious when paramedics arrived on scene.
According to a news release from the city of Titusville, both men are currently in critical condition.
"We thought at first it was a stunt. But when they started coming toward the ground we could tell that something wasn’t right because of how fast they were going," one witness identified as Joshua Graham said.
The jump was organized through a local skydiving center, Skydive Space Center, which boasts that it is the "home of the world's highest jumps." On its website, the skydive center offer three types of skydiving options: 11,000-foot jump, a 15,000-foot jump, or the world's highest tandem jump at 18,000 feet.
The business was reopened for customers on May 2nd after being closed for several weeks due to the coronavirus.
A preliminary investigation shows there was a "parachute malfunction," the release from the city stated.
Photo: Titusville Fire Department