The Marine Corps has released the name of the Camp Pendleton Marine killed Tuesday in a skydiving accident. He was Caleb Medley, 26, of Colorado.
As Home Post reported yesterday, Medley fell to his death during a training exercise at Perris Valley Airport.
Buzz Fink said of Skydive San Diego told San Diego television station 10News it has become more common for Pendleton Marines to practice their jumps off base:
"They do jump at Camp Pendleton and they jump at other military bases also but lately, they've been having a hard time in the military getting aircraft available for them to do their jumping, so a lot of times, they will contract with a civilian airplane or civilian skydiving schools to facilitate their needs."
Several witnesses of the accident said it appeared Medley's parachute did not open.
Eric Kazakoff of Western Construction Auctions told the Riverside Press-Enterprise that Medley landed in his company's 10-acre storage yard, which is located next to Perris Valley Skydiving:
“It was awful. The parachute didn’t open …There was not a lot anybody could do.”
