Details emerge on Lodi skydiving deaths

The two skydivers who died Saturday jumping from a plane over Acampo were a veteran instructor and an first-time jumper, according to the owner of the Lodi Parachute Center.

Francine Salazar and other family members were at the field watching her 18-year-old son Tyler Turner jump when the parachute carrying him and his instructor malfunctioned.

“Before he got on the plane, he knelt down and prayed, made his peace with God, and then turned around and gave me a great big, huge hug,” Salazar said. “He said, ‘I love you, Mom,’ and then he got on the plane.”

She never saw him come down. “He went really far off course,” Salazar said.

The San Joaquin County sheriff’s department responded to the center around 10 a.m. Saturday and found the two bodies in a vineyard. The Federal Aviation Administration will determine the exact cause of the accident.

The Sacramento Bee and Merced Sun-Star

This story was originally published August 7, 2016 at 3:20 PM with the headline "Details emerge on Lodi skydiving deaths."