Dylan arrived in the Brento area three days ago. We made plans the evening before to head up to "Happy Birthday" on the morning of the 3rd.
Dylan had jumped Happy Birthday in previous years, but had not jumped there in a while. When we got to the exit he lasered the exit with the intention of giving the numbers to another jumper, and remarked that the exit was bigger than he had thought it was. The wind was calm on exit.
Dylan was second to exit on a load of five jumpers. Dylan had a stable exit. I watched his flight, and from the exit, his flight appeared to be slower. Dylan flew far right over the terrain, and I lost sight of him. I heard a loud noise which I initially thought was a canopy, but I couldn’t spot him under canopy. In my opinion, a line further to the right would be possible on a later jump when there are thermals present, but would be difficult in the early morning when there are no thermals.
We’re currently waiting on fly sight data and the video which would provide more insight into what happened.
Dylan was a kind and gentle soul who had experienced some trauma over recent years with the loss of a close friend and a serious tandem/skydiving related neck injury. He was determined to make this year a positive year and was always full of bright, bubbly energy. He will be missed very much by many people.