Canberra skydiver, 32, dies in Goulburn accident

A 37-year-old instructor from Manly Vale in Sydney's northern suburbs also died.

NSW Police said that, while attempting to jump from an aircraft, the pair's gear got caught on a part of the plane.

By the time they were unhooked, they were too low for their chutes to be opened.

They were found by emergency services about 5km southeast of Goulburn at 12.50pm unresponsive on the runway at Goulburn Airport.

Tony Welling told The Daily Telegraph his son Alex was a "wild free spirit who lived by his own rules".

Inspector Matt Hinton described it as a "very tragic day".

"We are dealing with their friends (who were at the airport) to ascertain the details and contact extended family around the state, which is difficult," he said.

"Police are doing their best to establish the cause and assist the families in their grief."

Inspector Hinton said four people, including the pilot, were on the single-engine Cessna 182 when it left the airport at noon.

Another Canberra man had already jumped and had intended to video the instructor and other Canberra man's tandem jump.

"They were in the plane, stepped out on to a step and attempted to jump but their gear became hooked on a section of the outside of the aircraft," Inspector Hinton said.

"The pilot [realised this] and got out of seat and attempted to assist them but could not reach them.

"For some reason they dislodged but there wasn't enough height for them to deploy the chute."

He could not say the height at this stage but the men fell to the ground near the runway.

Adrenalin Skydive staff alerted emergency services, which were quickly on the scene. Ambulance, police, including police rescue, and fire services attended.

Inspector Matt Hinton said his detectives would work with specialist investigators from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau and the Australian Parachuting Federation on the airport fatalities. file photo by Louise Thrower.

Adrenalin Skydive and airport owner has declined comment but spokesman Scott Marshall told media yesterday that it was a tragic day for everyone.

"We lost one of our tandem instructors and a customer today and everyone here, their heart goes out to their family and friends," Mr Marshall told the Sydney Morning Herald. "It's been a really tough day."

"The instructor had over 2500 skydives, safety is paramount here and it was not a result of anything that the instructor did. It was one of those freak occurrences.

"The younger man, from what I heard, was really looking forward to it. I was talking to his mates and they said he really loved the adrenalin."

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Inspector Hinton said friends of the Canberra man were at the airport yesterday and were understandably devastated. His mother also attended the facility on Sunday night.

The Canberra Times understands the male had performed tandem jumps elsewhere and was booked in with Adrenalin Skydive for another.

The company had facilitated other earlier skydives that day and had described conditions as suitable, Inspector Hinton said.

It was the fourth skydiving fatality under Adrenalin Skydiving at the airport since November, 2015.

Inspector Hinton said safety would form a part of the investigation and police would be guided by the Australian Parachuting Federation on this. APF officials inspected the aircraft on Sunday night.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau also attended the site. WorkSafe NSW was notified and was contacting investigators.

It's understood the instructor was not directly employed by Adrenalin Skydive, but like all others, was a contractor. He had performed many other tandem jumps at Goulburn airport.

Inspector Hinton said a report would be prepared for the coroner and the overall investigation was likely to take months.

All senior next of kin of the men had been informed.

"It is obviously very tragic for them," he said.

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