British base jumper dies after parachute fails to open in Italy
Dylan Roberts was an avid skydiver and base jumper, and died doing what he loved, says his brother.
A 33-year-old British base jumper, Dylan Morris Roberts, died after his parachute failed to open during a jump in the Italian Alps on Friday, according to local media reports.
The former skydiving instructor was in Monte Brento in the northern region of Trentino when he jumped from a height of 800 metres.
According to a report in The Independent, the man hit the side of the mountain just 200 metres into his jump from a spot locally popular as "Happy Birthday." It is one of the most popular spots for base jumping in Italy.
Local police officers have claimed that he may have miscalculated his trajectory which led to his tragic death. His body was recovered by mountain rescue workers in an inaccessible gully between Mount Cimone and another mountain, Jof di Goliz.
His grieving brother in a Facebook post wrote: "Heartbroken to announce that our beloved brother Dylan Roberts has passed away yesterday." His social media pages were full of photos of him skydiving with him describing the experience as "the best job I ever had."
"He died doing what he loved, flying his wingsuit in the mountains in Italy. The only thing he loved more was his family and friends who he shared his life and adventures with," he added.
Robert had previously lost a close friend in a skydiving accident and reportedly suffered a serious neck injury himself.
Roberts had completed thousands of skydiving and base jumps before the accident, according to online base-jumping forum BLINC. He was a trained skydiving instructor who had worked with the British Parachute School.
The incident came a day after an Australian, Matthew Glen Munting, lost his life in a similar incident. The 35-year-old man died after hitting a gully after jumping off Mount Cimone. He was one of the most experienced base jumpers in the world, having finished 400 jumps with a wingsuit and 3,000 with a parachute.
