Skydiver Survives 5,000 Foot Fall After Shoot(s) Fail To Open

A 30-year-old woman made a jump out of a plane expecting to be caught by her parachute. That didn't happen.

The woman had been skydiving before, so she knew what she was doing. She was making a solo jump at the skydiving facility Parachutisme Adrénaline, located near the Montreal-Mirabel International Airport in Canada.

Denis Demers, who witnessed the fall, says, "It's a miracle," Demers told Radio-Canada on Wednesday. "I don't know how a person can survive a fall from an airplane like that."

He said that the woman was falling faster than the rest of those that jumped out of the plane. Her main chute didn't open, followed by her backup chute failing to open.

She ended up hitting some trees in a wooded area before falling to the ground with non-life threatening injuries. She is recovering in hospital with several fractures, including broken vertebrae, but police say her life is not in danger.

Nancy Koreen, director of sports promotion for the US Parachute Association (USPA), said, "To say none of the parachutes opened is probably misleading ... It's not really the way the parachute works."

The jumper must release the main chute and deploy the backup chute once the main chute is clear, to ensure there is no tangling, she said.