Report: British sgt. arrested after wife's parachute fails

A British Army sergeant was held on suspicion of attempted murder after his skydiving wife's parachute failed to deploy, forcing her to plummet 4,000 feet to the ground, several media outlets reported.

Sky News reports that Emile Cilliers was questioned by police after his wife, Victoria Cilliers, survived the fall. Police said she suffered "multiple serious injuries."

Sky News reports that the 39-year-old Cilliers' main parachute failed to open and her reserve one malfunctioned as well but managed to open just enough to slow down her descent.

"This woman would have been dead if her chute hadn't partially opened, this meant her descent was slowed enough for her to survive the fall," Detective Inspector Paul Franklin said, according to the BBC.

Police said that soft links used to attach the parachute's canopy to the harness were missing.

Cilliers was hospitalized with "multiple fractures throughout her body," police said.

The BBC reports that her 35-year-old husband, an Army corps training instructor, was bailed last week.