Veteran Skydiver Dimitri Didenko Plunges to His Death During Competition
On 3/15/21 at 10:31 AM EDT
An experienced skydiver has died after his parachute reportedly failed to open during a competition on Sunday.
Dimitri Didenko, 30, was competing in the Wingsuit Diving Championships in the coastal town of Jurien Bay, about 130 miles north of Perth, Western Australia, when the accident occurred.
"Between 1pm and 2.30pm, the man jumped from an aircraft and it is believed his parachutes failed to deploy correctly and he fell to the ground," West Australia Police said. "The man received critical injuries and sadly died at the scene."
Didenko was an experienced and well-known skydiver who had completed more than 6,000 jumps around the world. He often competed in a wingsuit where participants use a special jumpsuit to add surface area to the body to fly through the air.