The experienced women were preparing for an organized record attempt when their parachutes became entangled as they approached the ground.
LAKE ELSINORE, Calif. — Two experienced women skydivers died Friday after their parachutes became entangled during a jump near a Riverside County skydiving center, authorities and the center said. Both women were taken to a hospital in critical condition and later pronounced dead.
Riverside County sheriff’s deputies were called shortly before noon Nov. 6 to the 20000 block of Cereal Street for a reported air emergency. Deputies arrived to find the two skydivers on the ground receiving medical aid. The Riverside County Fire Department said both had suffered major injuries. No other injuries were reported, and authorities said the investigation remained underway Friday night.
The women were experienced, licensed skydivers who had traveled to Lake Elsinore for an organized skydiving event, according to Skydive Elsinore. The center said their open parachutes became entangled as the women prepared to land. Both were taken by ground ambulance to Inland Valley Medical Center in nearby Wildomar, where they died. Their names, ages and hometowns had not been publicly released as of Friday night.
Chazi Rutz, a professional skydiver from Arizona who took part in the jump, told the Los Angeles Times that the group was training for an attempt to set a California record for the largest formation of women flying in an upright orientation. In that type of formation, skydivers position themselves in the air in a posture resembling a seated position. Rutz said the current record involved 12 participants and the group hoped to complete a 19-way formation.
Rutz said the group completed the initial free-fall portion of Friday morning’s jump without incident and that the emergency developed after parachutes were deployed. She said the two women moved too close together and their parachutes became entangled. The Riverside County Sheriff’s Office had not independently released a detailed account of the sequence and had not announced an official cause of the deaths.
Skydive Elsinore said there was no indication that equipment malfunctioned and said it was cooperating with authorities. The center also offered condolences to the women’s relatives, friends and others affected by the deaths. Investigators had not announced findings about the equipment, weather or any other possible contributing factor Friday night.
Northeast winds were reported across parts of the Inland Empire during the day. NBC Los Angeles reported gusts of up to 20 mph near March Air Reserve Base, about 14 miles east of Lake Elsinore. Authorities had not determined that wind contributed to the incident, and no official finding linking weather to the deaths had been released.
The deaths follow other recent skydiving emergencies in Riverside County. In May, one skydiver died and another was critically injured in an accident near Perris. In March 2023, a woman training for a solo skydive became caught in live power lines in Lake Elsinore and was rescued without injuries. Those incidents were separate from Friday’s fatal jump.
The Sheriff’s Office said its investigation into Friday’s incident was continuing. Authorities had not released the women’s identities or a final determination of what caused their parachutes to become entangled as of Friday night.
Author note: Last updated November 6, 2026.