Man Dies Following MA Skydiving Accident

ORANGE, MA — A man died following a skydiving accident at Orange Municipal Airport in Franklin County this past weekend, according to reports.

Robert Szabo, 62, of Connecticut, was taken to UMass Medical Center in Worcester following the incident Saturday. He died Tuesday evening.

State and local police are investigating the cause of the accident along with the Federal Aviation Administration, according to Boston 25 News.

The death was at Jumptown Skydiving. Management recounted the incident, according to The Greenfield Recorder, stating that there "a midair collision between two experienced skydivers” and that the “injured jumper landed on airport property under a fully functioning parachute.”

Last year, there were nine skydiving deaths out of 3.88 million dives nationwide, data from the U.S. Parachute Association shows.

Also, 5.6 percent of divers reported experiencing an injury, with the most common being ankle injuries.

There was another death reported at Jumptown Skydiving in 2018. In that case, Alexis Zayas, 27, of East Meadow, New York, “veered off course” and collided with a barn, The Long Island Herald reported.