Skydiver Melissa Porter killed while testing risky landing in Texas

July 3, 2023

A 29-year-old champion skydiver from Australia was killed in Texas while testing a high-risk method for the sport called “swooping.”

Melissa Porter, of Perth, an instructor at Skydive Spaceland Houston, was attempting the new maneuver on June 24 when she had a hard landing and fell into shallow water, ABC 13 Houston reported.

Witnesses said her parachute deployed during the “advanced landing maneuver,” but was too close to the ground, news.com.au reported.

Porter was rushed to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Investigators said they didn’t notice any blunt force trauma to her body and were not sure if she had suffered a medical emergency during the dive, the Houston TV station said.

The Galveston County Medical Examiner’s Office will determine the cause of death.

“She’s my baby and she’s not coming home,” Porter’s mother, Vonnie Porter, told Australia’s 9NEWS.

Champion Australian skydiver Melissa Porter during jump — Champion Australian skydiver Melissa Porter, 29, was killed while trying a high-risk landing maneuver during a jump at Skydive Spaceland Houston, where she was an instructor..

Champion Australian skydiver Melissa Porter — Porter was reportedly attempting a risky landing in which jumpers perform a series of tricky maneuvers that allow them to “swoop” at high speeds over the ground or water before leveling off rapidly.

Porter and her dog — Porter won gold at the Australian Skydiving Championships earlier this year.

She said her daughter loved the sport.

“That was her happy place. She’ll forever be in the sky roaming the world now,” Vonnie told the outlet.

Porter was one of 23 women who jumped at Skydive Ramblers in Toogoolawah in May — completing the “2-point 23 way,” an Australian women’s total-break sequential record, news.com.au reported.

Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it was “providing consular assistance to the family of an Australian woman who died in the United States.

“We send our deepest condolences to the woman’s family,” a DFAT rep added.

Porter in mid-jump as she pretends to lie down — “She’s my baby and she’s not coming home,” Porter’s mother, Vonnie Porter, said.

Porter takes a mud bath in an undated photo.

In skydiving, swooping involves a series of tricky maneuvers that allow jumpers to “swoop” at high speeds over the ground or water before leveling off rapidly for the landing.

Porter and her skydiving partner Josh Tassicker won gold at the Australian Skydiving Championships earlier this year when they competed in the two-way Inter Vertical Formation Skydiving category at Hillman Farm Skydiving Club.

“It was a shock when we took gold but it’s been amazing — it definitely makes me want to compete further,” she told the Sound Telegraph.