A champion Australian skydiver and instructor has died in the US while testing out a new method for the sport.
Melissa Porter, from Port Kennedy in Western Australia, died after the accident at the Skydive Spaceland Houston facility in Texas on June 24.
Local police yesterday confirmed friends had identified the woman as Porter.
Witnesses reportedly saw a parachute deploy before she made a hard landing.
Investigators said no blunt force trauma was noticeable on her body.
The Galveston County Medical Examiner’s Office will work to determine Porter’s cause of death.
Read Related Also: The iconic Aussie animals disappearing from our backyards
Friends are now planning a tribute skydive at the facility to honour Porter.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) confirmed it is “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 spokesperson added.
Porter helped set a skydiving record in Queensland earlier this year.
She was one of 23 women who jumped at Skydive Ramblers in Toogoolawah on May 6, completing the “2-point 23 way”, an Australian women’s total-break sequential record.
Sign up here to receive our daily newsletters and breaking news alerts, sent straight to your inbox.
