Skydiving Trainer Killed Following Plummeting Without Safety Gear in Nashville

The Federal Aviation Administration is looking into the fatality of a skydiving instructor after he got detached from his client during a dive in Music City, TN.

Authorities say trainer Justin Fuller "appears to have dropped from the sky without a parachute" during the jump on Saturday.

The instructor, 35 years old, appeared to have separated from his student and a tandem rig, which connects the two during a dive and contains the safety gear.

A police helicopter found Fuller's body in a forested zone some time after. Local emergency crews utilized several ladders to reach the 46-year old client who lived through the fall after being stuck on a tree for some time with the backup chute.

Officials stated three other dives, which occurred near a local airport, were carried out without incident before the fatal fall. Aircraft from which they jumped also landed safely.

It is unclear how the instructor, an experienced skydiver, became separated from the protective gear.

A man who assisted fire crews in the operation told a local television station the student who authorities saved said "it was his first jump, and it was going to be his final one".

Mr Fuller had previously posted about his enthusiasm for instructing people how to parachute.

"Instructing individuals to parachute has consistently been in my opinion the most satisfying job at the jump site," Mr Fuller said in an Instagram post in the summer.

"Watching them figure it out and begin maneuvering their bodies is consistently a touching experience. Occasionally though, it can become quite chaotic up there when you release a student for their initial attempt."

That same month he posted photos of the damage a skydiving plane he was on noting the plane's engine had malfunctioned after take off. Every individual onboard lived through the incident.