The jump over Lake Elsinore went the way it was supposed to go until the two women were about 150 feet from the ground.
Two women — Georgia Jean, a 56-year-old from South Dakota, and Levi Pimentel, a 29-year-old from Illinois — died after colliding in midair and becoming entangled during a jump over Lake Elsinore, Calif., on Friday, Nov. 6, 2026. Both were licensed, experienced skydivers in town for an organized event at Skydive Elsinore, the center said. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office identified them over the weekend.
Nothing looked wrong during the descent itself. The free fall and the opening of both parachutes were normal, according to the skydiving center. “As they prepared to land, the two skydivers collided at approximately 150 feet above the ground,” Skydive Elsinore said in a statement.
Their parachutes tangled, and the two fell to the ground. The collision happened around 11:45 a.m. over the center, located near the corner of Cereal Street and Corydon Road. Both women were badly hurt, according to the Riverside County Fire Department, and ambulances took them to Inland Valley Medical Center in Wildomar, where they died.
They Left the Plane Holding Hands
Chazi Rutz, a professional skydiver from Arizona, was on the jump. The group jumped from the plane on Friday, Nov. 6, holding one another’s hands, Rutz told The Times, and the first minute of free fall passed without incident. Tragedy struck soon after they deployed their parachutes.
The women were training with the California Women’s Upright Record Team, a group working toward a state record for the largest formation flown by women in the upright orientation — a position in which jumpers appear to be sitting in the air.
Skydive Elsinore extended condolences to both families and said it is grieving alongside everyone affected by the deaths.
The FAA Will Take the Parachutes
There is no indication that either woman’s equipment malfunctioned, the center said, adding that it is cooperating with local authorities. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office said its inquiry is ongoing. The Federal Aviation Administration will collect the parachutes for further investigation.
A cause was not immediately clear. Winds out of the northeast swept the Inland Empire that day, gusting to 20 mph near March Air Reserve Base, roughly 14 miles to the east. Whether wind played any part in the collision is unclear.
Fatalities in the sport are rare measured against the number of people who jump. The United States Parachute Association (USPA) estimated 3.47 million jumps in 2025, resulting in 16 deaths, a figure the association calls low compared with the sport’s deadliest years in the 1970s. “Many think that equipment failure causes most skydiving accidents, but the reality is that the vast majority are a result of simple human error,” the association says.
She Found Skydiving After Standup Comedy
Jean had completed some 1,700 jumps since she discovered skydiving in 2015. She had earlier worked as a standup comic and a medium and started a life coaching and energy work business in Box Elder, S.D. With her team, First Froth, she took bronze in intermediate mixed formation at the 2024 USPA National Skydiving Championships.
Pimentel made her first skydive on her 18th birthday and had logged more than 600 jumps since. She was a lead instructor at iFLY Indoor Skydiving in Naperville, Ill. In 2022, she helped set a women’s head-down world record.
Later in November, in Arizona, Pimentel planned to join 39 other women from 12 countries for a world-record attempt at the largest women’s upright formation.
A Fatal Jump at Skydive Perris
Earlier this year, on May 28, 2026, a skydiver died at Skydive Perris, also in Riverside County, after an apparent midair collision among a group of experienced visiting jumpers. The sheriff’s office identified him as Pascal Pierre Petetin, 57, of Tahiti. He was found in a field near Interstate 215 and Nuevo Road and was pronounced dead there. A second skydiver was hospitalized in critical condition, and a third was not hurt.