Florida skydiver dies when parachute fails to open

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BRADFORD COUNTY, Fla. — A Florida skydiver died Friday after his parachute failed to open during a jump.

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Yuset Hernandez, 51, of Miami, was participating in a charity skydiving event near Gainesville when his parachute malfunctioned during his team’s final jump.

Hernandez was with a group of seven other men, all originally from Cuba, practicing for an event that weekend honoring fallen police officers.

“And the very last jump that they were doing, one of the skydiver’s chutes didn’t deploy fully,” Bradford County Sheriff’s Maj. Brad Smith said. “We had it on video where you can see where he released that chute and was trying to open a secondary chute and wasn’t able to get it open in time.”

His body was found in a remote area of woods after several hours of searching.

Hernandez moved to Miami in 2003 from Cuba, WFOR reported. He is survived by a daughter and grandchild in Cuba.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.