Justin Fuller Dies in Nashville Skydiving Accident

On Oct. 4 in northwest Nashville, a 35-year-old skydiving instructor, Justin Robert Fuller of Murfreesboro, Tenn., died after apparently falling from a plane without a parachute during a tandem jump. Fuller and his 46-year-old student reportedly became stuck on the side of the plane in a tandem rig; Fuller separated from the harness and is presumed to have fallen. The student’s emergency parachute deployed and he was found lodged in a tree off Ashland City Highway, suspended for hours before firefighters — using ladders, pulleys and chainsaws, and with help from bystanders with climbing gear — cleared dense woods to reach and free him. The student was alert, taken to a hospital as a precaution and listed in stable condition. Metro Nashville police located Fuller’s body by helicopter in a nearby clearing, and the Federal Aviation Administration will lead the investigation while Go Skydive Nashville is cooperating. Three other skydivers who jumped earlier landed safely and the plane returned to John C. Tune Airport.