Skydive instructor, student killed in Fla. jumps

ZEPHYRHILLS, Fla. — An investigation has opened into the weekend deaths of a skydiving instructor and a student, both from Iceland, who died during jumps with a group in Florida, a law enforcement official said.

The two men took part with 20 other people Saturday in skydiving jumps from a plane in Zephyrhills, about 30 miles northeast of Tampa, said Pasco County sheriff’s spokeswoman Melanie Snow. They were reported missing, touching off an hours-long search on Saturday.

Snow said an air-and-ground search was begun when only 20 of the 22 skydivers returned from their jumps late Saturday morning. The bodies were discovered by spotters from the air early Saturday evening in woods south of the Zephyrhills Municipal Airport.

Snow would not comment whether the parachutes of the skydivers had opened, saying that was part of the investigation.

She identified the victims as 41-year-old instructor Orvar Arnarson and 25-year-old student Andrimar Pordarson. No hometowns were given. The men did not take part in a tandem jump but two separate jumps, Snow said without elaborating.

She added that the men were reported missing on their third round of jumps Saturday about 10:30 a.m. Saturday and that their bodies were spotted later after search teams scoured a large area, focused mostly south of the municipal airport.

She said the teams were instructed to look for the men and their chutes, one green-and-white and the parachute blue-and gray.

Authorities said the skydivers were part of a jump outing through Skydive City in Zephyrhills.