A former Army Ranger from Canton died Monday after a planned skydiving stunt went wrong.
Christian Stevens was performing a nine-person jump in Sebastian, Florida, with Team Fastrax, a professional skydiving and parachute exhibition performance team. He attempted to avoid another skydiver and made a hard landing, Treasure Coast News reported.
The nine-way diamond formation was intended to be timed to the launch of a SpaceX rocket, Fastrax said when announcing Stevens’ death on Facebook.
“Christian was a solid American that served our nation as an Army Ranger, a loving father, a devoted husband and a teammate that was our brother,” the team said.
According to Treasure Coast News, emergency crews responded to the landing site at Sebastian Municipal Airport just after 10 a.m. Monday. Stevens was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Stevens had 20 years of skydiving experience and served as an instructor, police told the news site.
His skydiving team had performed at thousands of exhibition skydives at public and sporting events across the world, according to the organization. It touts itself as the only team to have performed over ground zero in New York City on 9/11, as well as the Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery.
— Staff writer Zachary Hansen contributed to this article.
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