A 73-year old California man is dead after a BASE jump from a Twin Falls, Idaho, bridge. His parachute failed to open on time.
It’s the second fatality this year at the Perrine Bridge, a popular spot 500 feet over the Snake River for the free falling enthusiasts.
BASE is an acronym for buildings, antennas, spans and Earth. Unlike skydivers who parachute out of planes, BASE jumpers practice their sport from elevated places.
The Twin Falls County Sheriff’s Office says James Hickey of Claremont, California, died when his parachute opened too low and too late Thursday night.
A boat in the area picked him up from the Snake River. Hickey was pronounced dead at a nearby dock.
Tom Aiello, a friend of the victim, told the Reuters news agency that Hickey, a retired accountant, had participated in over 1,000 jumps in the decade since he took up the sport.
An estimated 500 people jump from the Bridge every year.
Bryan Turner, 32, of Vancouver, British Columbia died in March when his parachute failed to open, marking the first fatality in four years at the bridge site.