He was going off alone at the top, had ground crew at the bottom, but nobody knows for sure what happened.

Zack was an experienced jumper, and had recently been to Malaysia, where he had made 40+ jumps, most with aerials. He was a confident but generally conservative jumper, had sound judgment, and was current.

His last jump at this site had been a gainer, but he been frustrated by some off-axis rotation on the jump and wanted to try it again. This evening, due to winds he likely exited from an area that makes the jumper bend down a little bit on exit. It appears that he either stalled or had a slow over-rotation, possibly from the awkward exit position. The pilot chute was extracted, but the pins were not pulled, suggesting either bridle wrap or late pull. Additionally, he had placed his stash bag on his back with the rig over top (big-wall style). This stash bag had an elastic adjusting strap in the middle that had ~6 inches of free slack when the bag was empty. The elastic line was pulled taut when he was found, and so he may have inadvertently pulled the line with his PC, delaying the extraction of his PC.

The site itself is a very dark area, and the ground lighting has not been recently replaced. I believe the moon was low on the horizon or already set, not offering a lot of light. Aerials can be disorienting on a sunny day, and with the low light of this site, it's possible that he lost orientation or lost altitude awareness during the rotation.

Zack was a very well-liked jumper, a great guy, and someone who I admired for his strength and perseverance. He'll be sorely missed.