PHOENIX — A group of 200 skydivers plans to return to the skies over Arizona on Wednesday to pursue world records despite the death of two divers Tuesday, a member of the group said.
"This is one of those things we have to face with the sport, the chance of injury," said skydiver Andrew Barker.
The skydivers died Tuesday after colliding in midair near Eloy, police said. The crash took place at Skydive Arizona, which operates out of Eloy Municipal Airport, about 60 miles south of Phoenix.
Witnesses said the skydivers had open parachutes when they collided about 200 to 300 feet above the ground, causing their canopies to collapse and sending them plummeting, Eloy police Sgt. Brian Jerome said.
One person was pronounced dead at the scene and the other was pronounced dead at Casa Grande Regional Medical Center. A third skydiver, injured in an unrelated accident, was flown to Maricopa Medical Center in Phoenix, Jerome said. He said the deceased were not American, but he declined to name their countries of origin. They were part of a 200-member group, he said.