In Georgia, a teen and her skydiving instructor are dead after a tandem jump went horribly wrong. Jeanna Triplicata was about to graduate high school. Though her parents say she wasn't exactly a thrill-seeker, she wanted to do something adventurous to celebrate the occasion. But that celebration turned into a tragic day for Jeanna and her entire family.
The 18-year-old went skydiving for the first time along with an experienced instructor, Nick Esposito, 35, on July 12. But something went wrong during the jump, and both died at the scene. Upson County Sheriff Dan Kilgore said in a statement provided to CNN, "Upon exiting the aircraft, the primary parachute failed to open properly and went into a spin. The emergency parachute deployed at a very low altitude but it never fully opened."
Jeanna's family was watching from the ground and could see a parachute spinning and skydivers tumbling through the air. They didn't yet know that it was Jeanna and her instructor.
Jeanna was looking forward to graduating from high school so much that she wanted to do something truly special to commemorate it. Even though she wasn't typically adventurous, she decided to go skydiving. But the day didn't turn out how anyone had planned.
After she and her instructor exited the plane, their parachute didn't open. Jeanna's siblings and parents were watching from the ground. They reportedly saw a parachute spinning and a pair of people somersaulting in the sky, but they didn't yet know who the skydivers were.
Her father spoke about being on the ground, waiting to see his excited daughter land safely. "We were all so looking forward to after she landed and to talk to her and hear her story," her father, Joey Triplicata, told CNN. "I feel like we were robbed of that and now we're robbed of the rest of her life. It's so painful."
While going skydiving is definitely seen as risky, it's actually a relatively safe activity, all things considered. Accidents do happen, but they are rare. They're even rarer in tandem jumps. In 2019, there were 15 fatal skydiving accidents in the United States, which isn't desirable, but it's out of about 3.3 million jumps.
Now Jeanna's family is heartbroken and grieving the loss. Jeanna was the oldest child in her family. Her father says she was an atypical teenager who didn't get into trouble. He called her truly "special."
"She was very family-oriented, and she wanted to do the right things in life," he said. "She wasn't a rule breaker. When we bought her first car, she didn't want anything flashy or that would stand out."
The teen had just graduated from Northgate High School but hadn't gotten to walk across the state to receive her diploma yet. Her school had rescheduled the ceremony for late July. Jeanna was an excellent student, was on the color guard team, and was captain her senior year.
Now her grieving family wants answers. "We want to know what happened and I hope and pray that we will eventually know what happened," her father said. "I want this never to happen again, so that's why I want to know what happened." He continued, "So, a parent, husband, a wife, a daughter will never have to go through this again. This pain is nearly unbearable."
The skydiving company is set to investigate what went wrong and says it is working with the Federal Aviation Administration. The company has hosted "tens of thousands" of jumps since it opened in 1985. Regardless, accidents do sometimes happen no matter how thorough safety procedures are. But it's simply devastating that such a young girl lost her life this way.
Now Jeanna's family is focused on putting her to rest. Her funeral is scheduled for this weekend, and a GoFundMe page has been set up to help the family with those expenses. They say there has been a huge outpouring of love and support for their family during this time.
"I hate that this tragedy is the reason why people are going to learn more about her and her life," her father says of his beloved daughter. "The tragedy has happened and at this point, we just want Jeanna to be remembered as the person she was, which was a wonderful young lady."
Hopefully, the family will have some answers soon about exactly what went wrong in the accident.
