Joe Bennett, 49, of Gwinnett County, died Saturday after misjudging his landing at Monroe-Walton County Airport, where he worked as a skydiving instructor with more than two decades of experience, WSB-TV reports.
“He just misjudged his turn from final approach to landing, and just started it a little too low,” Bennett’s boss, Bill Scott, told the station. “It’s very rare. You say, ‘Wow, you never saw that one coming,’ from someone with that kind of experience.”
Bennett was “conscious and breathing and aware” after the accident, Scott said.
Other skydivers gave Bennett first aid until emergency officials from several agencies arrived, Monroe police told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He was airlifted to nearby Grady Memorial Hospital, where he later died from his injuries.
Flags at Skydive Monroe, where Bennett worked, were lowered to half-staff on Sunday and some employees at the facility went skydiving on Sunday in his honor.
Bennett, who had more than 6,000 jumps throughout his career, was remembered as a “treasured soul” who earned a living doing what he loved.
“As all of you know, we lost a treasured soul yesterday,” according to a GoFundMe page created to offset funeral costs. “Joe Bennett, [the] myth, the man, the legend, made his last skydive … His loss cuts deep and if we, his sky-family and friends, can ease some of the financial hardship for his wife, then we should do what we can. He would do the same for each and every one of us.”
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