A daring effort to beat the world skydiving record with more than 222 people freefalling together from an airplane turned tragic when one of the female jumpers died on Thursday, the Associated Press reported.
As part of an effort in Eloy, Ariz., 222 seasoned skydivers were supposed to join together in two groups, mid-air, before opening their parachutes, ABC News reported.
However, a malfunctioning parachute that was released too low to allow the reserve parachute to fully open ended up killing an unidentified skydiver.
The unfortunate malfunctioning accident was blamed by Skydive Arizona for the death of the female skydiver, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
"It had nothing to do with the size of the group or the aircraft," World Team spokeswoman Gulcin Gilbert said. "It was a malfunction of the parachute."
"The accident occurred during an attempt to break a world record for what is called a 'formation jump,'" the AP reported. "The group of 222 people from 28 countries was to free-fall from about 18,000 feet, come together in a formation before separating and doing another formation, then pull their parachutes."
As the skydivers hurtled at speeds of more than 100 mph, they needed oxygen masks in the airplane due to the high elevation jump. Weather relations posed no threat during the event.
Due to the tragic mishap, no record was set by the group as they failed to complete the formation at the event organized by World Team at the Skydive Arizona, one of the nation's top skydiving locations.
After learning of their fellow teammate's death, skydivers cried and hugged each other.
"According to the Arizona Republic, two men were killed during an attempt to break the same record in December 2013 after they collided in mid-air," ABC News reported. "The men were part of a different organization."
