Connecticut skydiver dead after mid-air collision with another daredevil: report

A skydiver died after colliding with another skydiver during a jump over Orange, Massachusetts, according to reports.

Robert Szabo, 62, of Connecticut, died three days after a jump from a Jumptown Skydiving plane, Orange Fire Chief James Young said, according to WBZ-TV.

During the jump on Oct. 4, Szabo collided with another skydiver who was unharmed as a result of the incident, with the fatally injured 62-year-old landing with a working parachute, that report stated.

“The injured jumper landed on airport property under a fully functioning parachute,” Jumptown said in a statement to the outlet.

Szabo was transported to a hospital in nearby Worcester where he was taken off of a ventilator on Tuesday following a very negative MRI.

The cause of death has yet to be determined by the Medical Examiner and the incident remains under investigation by the Northwestern District Attorney’s office, the report stated.

Szabo was a staff member at Connecticut Parachutists, a skydiving club in Ellington, CT, that report stated.

“Whether he greeted you with a smile or his signature eye roll, it was the warmest one around,” Connecticut Parachutists said in a statement, WBZ-TC reported.

“We will always remember his kindness, patience, and generosity with his time and skill.”

Szabo was a longtime plane-jumper who had competed in competitions and won several awards, according to that organization’s website.

This is the second skydiving death at Jumptown in less than a decade, with 27-year-old Alexis Zayas fatally colliding with a barn in 2018, according to The Greenfield Recorder.

In 2022, a skydiver at Jumptown was seriously injured after his parachute got tangled and he made a hard landing on the roof of a building, WBZ-TV reported.