A 49-year-old Brooklyn resident died yesterday while skydiving. Arkady Shenker crashed into a backyard in Washington Township at 2 p.m. and his injuries were fatal.
Shenker was an experienced skydiver, with at least 350 jumps under his belt. According to WPVI, "The Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office says the experienced diver, who had jumped hundreds of times, wore a specialized parachute called a wing suit. The suit allows a skydiver to move forward while descending. It is unclear whether the suit opened properly."
A witness, Lamont Dye, told NBC 10, "We saw him coming down. He was going around and around... I knew he was in trouble." Anne Marie Dye, who said her family was on an Easter egg hunt, added, "I saw the jumpers. Then I noticed one, and he kind of looked like he was conscious. He was just spinning." Then ran over to help him.
Shenker had jumped from a plane run by Freefall Adventures in Monroe, NJ. An NBC 10 reporter "saw more skydivers parachuting from the sky hours after the Shenker's accident."
The federal authorities will be investigating.
