British base jumper dies 'after parachute fails to open' in 800m leap
7 June 2022, 08:21 | Updated: 7 June 2022, 08:39
A British base jumper has died after leaping from a drop of almost a kilometre when his parachute failed to open.
Dylan Morris Roberts had jumped from an 800m height in the Italian Dolomites but hit the side of a mountain after falling about a quarter of the distance.
Local police said the 33-year-old's parachute did not deploy, but that the accident could have happened because he miscalculated his trajectory.
A spokesperson for police in Brento, northern Italy, said: "We received a call from the mountain rescue services informing us of an accident and a crew was sent to the scene.
"The body of a British man was recovered and the consulate in Milan was informed.
"The prosecutor has also been informed and a report will be compiled for the office at a later stage."
Mr Roberts was a trained driving instructor who worked at the British Parachute School in Langar, Nottinghamshire.
He had made dozens of jumps and also enjoyed base jumping, an extreme sport that sees people leap off fixed objects and use a parachute to land. Typically, this includes buildings, masts, bridges and cliffs.
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"Some of the happiest memories I have are teaching people to skydive and see the pure happiness painted in the beaming smiles on their faces,” he wrote on Facebook in 2018.
"I'll always remember them by those happy moments in free fall."
Monte Brento, not far from tourist hotspot Lake Garda, is a popular area for base jumpers.
The Foreign Office said: "We are supporting the family of a British man who died in Italy, and are in contact with local authorities."
