An investigation is underway after a man fell 1,200 feet to his death during a parachuting incident Friday in Marion County, deputies said.

  • Parachutist was pulled from small airplane at about 1,200 feet
  • Witnesses said man hit the side of the plane and then fell to the ground
  • Man was part of group doing military-style parachuting

Marion County deputies were called about 5:30 p.m. Friday to Marion County Airport at Dunnellon Field regarding a man who fell from a small passenger plane.

The male victim, 49-year-old Dmytro Zinchenko, was a jump master and was part of a group of jumpers engaging in military-style parachuting.

According to witnesses in the plane, Zinchenko was kneeling by the jump door when his reserve chute accidentally deployed and pulled him from the airplane, deputies said.

Witnesses said Zinchenko hit the side of the plane and then fell to the ground. It's unclear if the man's military-style parachute fully deployed.

Zinchenko was pronounced dead when paramedics arrived at the scene.

Deputies said Zinchenko was a jumpmaster from Italy and had 147 military jumps in his career. He traveled from Italy to Dunnellon to participate in a World War II military-style "parachute static line jump."