Brother-in-law of Jimmie Johnson killed in San Diego skydiving accident
The brother of six-time Sprint Cup Champion Jimmie Johnson's wife Chandra was killed in a skydiving accident Sunday afternoon in California.
Jordan Janway, 27, had over 1,000 jumps of skydiving experience and was training other employees at Skydive San Diego when the accident occurred. The owner of the company said he believed Janway collided with the person he was jumping with.
Buzz Fink told reporters that the victim was practicing a maneuver called tracking when he collided with his jump partner. At this point, Fink believes Janway may have been knocked unconscious and unable to open his parachute.
The other jumper involved in the midair collision was not injured and was able to safely land in the drop zone.
Johnson released a statement Monday asking for prayers and privacy.
"The Johnsons are saddened by the tragic passing of Chandra’s brother, Jordan Janway, 27," the statement said. "Jordan was an incredible son, brother, uncle and friend and will be dearly missed. Please keep the Janway family in your thoughts and prayers. The family asks for privacy at this time."
Janway was reported missing at 4:30 p.m. Sunday and was found at approximately 5:15 p.m. The training jumps were happening from an altitude of 13,000 feet and the collision happened between 10,000 and 6,000 feet.
The owner of Skydive also said the parachutes have an embedded chip that automatically deploys the chutes if a diver is falling too fast. However, Janway's chip was under maintenance and he chose to jump without it. Because he had so many jumps, he was not required to have the chip in his chute and Fink said he chose to jump without it.
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