Robert Szabo, Connecticut Skydiver dies three days after mid air collision with another skydiver in Orange, Massachusetts. Avid skydiver and experienced thrill seeker landed with working parachute. Jump took place with Jumptown Skydiving as authorities now investigate cause of crash and death.
A skydiver has died three days after colliding with another skydiver during a mid-air collision over Orange, Massachusetts.
Robert Szabo of Connecticut died from injuries sustained following a Saturday afternoon jump from a Jumptown Skydiving plane, Orange Fire Chief James Young said.
The other skydiver involved in the collision was not injured, Young said.
Midair collision between two experienced skydivers
Szabo, 62, who landed with a functioning working parachute on airport property was taken by ambulance to a Worcester hospital, where he died Tuesday evening. The Medical Examiner will determine the cause of death.
‘On the afternoon of October 4, there was a midair collision between two experienced skydivers,’ Jumptown said in a statement to WBZ-TV. ‘The injured jumper landed on airport property under a fully functioning parachute.’
The cause of the accident is still being investigated by local authorities and the Federal Aviation Administration.
According to Connecticut Parachutists, where Szabo was a staff member, an MRI determined his prognosis was poor and the decision was made to take him off his ventilator.
Connecticut Parachutists is a skydiving club in Ellington, Connecticut.
Second skydiving death at Jumptown in a decade
‘Whether he greeted you with a smile or his signature eye roll, it was the warmest one around. We will always remember his kindness, patience, and generosity with his time and skill,’ said Connecticut Parachutists in a statement.
According to the organization’s website, Szabo has been a passionate skydiver since 2000 and was a coordinator for the ‘Accelerated Freefall’ program.
‘Rob’s accumulated skydiving knowledge has made him an asset to jumpers of all experience levels,’ the website stated.
Szabo was a longtime plane-jumper who had competed in competitions and won several awards, according to the organization’s site.
Orange is more than 70 miles west of Boston and about 10 miles from the New Hampshire border.
This is the second skydiving death at Jumptown in less than a decade, with 27-year-old Alexis Zayas fatally colliding with a barn in 2018, according to The Greenfield Recorder.
In 2022, a skydiver at Jumptown was seriously injured after his parachute got tangled and he made a hard landing on the roof of a building, WBZ-TV reported.
