One of Italy’s most experienced skydivers, Sandro Bigozzi, 49, died after a roughly 1,500-meter fall on Saturday despite both his main and reserve parachutes opening, authorities said.
Bigozzi took off from an airstrip in Montecompatri, a town just outside Rome, for a recreational jump. Investigators have seized equipment used in the flight and interviewed several witnesses. They said preliminary findings indicate the parachutes were delayed in their deployment, a circumstance that would not have allowed sufficient time to slow his descent. Authorities are also examining the possibility that a sudden medical event during the flight or jump may have impeded Bigozzi’s ability to react. An autopsy was scheduled in the coming days.
Bigozzi was well known in the skydiving community, with nearly 6,000 recorded jumps and more than 50,000 followers on social media. He posted a video of a jump he completed about two hours before the fatal incident. Outside of skydiving, Bigozzi worked as a sales representative for a pharmaceutical company. He is survived by his wife and two young children.
Local emergency services responded to the scene after the fall and pronounced Bigozzi dead. Carabinieri and aviation investigators took possession of the parachutes and other gear as part of a formal inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the accident.
Italian skydiving officials and independent safety experts said delayed canopy opening is a known risk in high-altitude jumps; if a parachute is not deployed within a narrow time window, there may be insufficient altitude to arrest forward and vertical speed, even if the parachute subsequently inflates. Investigators will analyse the equipment for malfunctions, review flight data and witness statements, and await the results of the autopsy to determine whether any medical issue contributed to the accident.
Bigozzi’s death comes weeks after another high-profile aerial accident in Italy that killed famed Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner in July. Baumgartner, 56, suffered fatal injuries after losing control of a motorised paraglider in Porto Sant’Elpidio in the Marche region.
Authorities urged caution and said findings from the ongoing probe into Bigozzi’s death would be released when available. The investigation will seek to establish the sequence of events, whether equipment failed, whether a medical emergency occurred, and whether any procedural or regulatory lapses contributed to the tragedy.