A 69-year-old skydiver fell to his death over the weekend after a “hard landing” in front of a home in Titusville, Florida. It is suspected that the man’s parachute may have been opened too late.
The man, Frederick C. Morello, 69, from Ormond Beach, was “solo parachuting” on Saturday, October 7, when the incident happened, according to the Titusville Police Department.
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First responders arrived at the residence on Merry Lane, near Arthur Dunn Airpark, at approximately 12:25 p.m. Upon arrival, first responders found Morello lying in the grass wearing “parachute attire and gear,” according to a press release.
How did this happen?
WKMG reported that police said a neighbor showed surveillance footage that captured Morello’s final moments of life reflected in the back window of a vehicle.
The video apparently shows the skydiver descending rapidly with a parachute before the rough landing. James Sconiers, the neighbor who witnessed the incident unfold, said that Morello hit the ground and bounced off their grass, almost like a basketball.
He hit the ground. Bounced off the driveway into their grass. Almost like a basketball that’s just how hard he hit the ground like someone bounced him up. It’s hard, Sconiers said.
Sconiers said he asked the man lying on the ground if he could hear him, but Morello gave no response.
I was asking the person that was laying on the ground, Hey man can you hear me, can you hear me? But he did not answer.
According to the Titusville Fire Department, the home where Morello was found is adjacent to Arthur Dunn Airpark. This airpark is home to Skydive Space Center, a popular skydiving company known for its dives over shuttle launch pads, the main assembly building, and the shuttle landing runway of the Kennedy Space Center, as stated on its website.
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Police did not release whether Morello was diving with the company or what caused the skydiver’s hard landing.
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