World News for Students of English

07-04-2014 07:00

An experienced skydiver has died while taking part in a group world record attempt, after her main parachute malfunctioned.

German skydiver Diana Paris was part of a 222-person group formation over Arizona, when her main parachute failed and her reserve chute opened too late.

Having trained for 18 months, and jumping in good conditions, the skydivers were on their first attempt to break the record, shown here in this video, when the mishap occurred.

The team from 28 countries had come to the U.S. to try and break the record for the largest number to complete two kaleidoscope-like formations before deploying their parachutes. Sadly for Paris, who had taken part in around 1,500 jumps, this would be her last, with her team performing a special skydive in her honour, known as a missing man formation.

The team plan to continue their record attempt throughout the day on Friday, but with 221 skydivers instead of 222.

Difficult words: attempt (try), malfunction (fail to function normally), chute (parachute), mishap (unlucky accident), deploy (open).