Skydiving instructor, student killed in hard landing near Perris

A skydiving instructor who died during a hard landing last week has been identified. 

The incident happened on Friday, Aug. 2 at around 2:40 p.m. after learning of an air emergency in the 2000 block of Goetz Road, said a statement from the Riverside County Sheriff's Office. 

Upon arrival, they found two people suffering from severe injuries. They were both rushed to nearby hospitals where they later died. 

They instructor has now been identified as 28-year-old Menifee woman Devrey LaRiccia, an instructor with Skydive Perris. The student has not yet been officially confirmed by law enforcement.

According to Freddy Chase, LaRiccia's husband, and Dan Brodsky-Chenfeld, the Executive Director of Skydive Perris, the tragedy happened when LaRiccia and her student made a tandem jump over the airport, planning on landing in an open field used by the company for landings. 

They were about 40 feet above ground when they encountered several dust devils, one of which caught their parachute and threw them to the ground. 

LaRiccia was one of 22 instructors that work at Skydive Perris, according to their website. 

In a statement, Brodsky-Chenfeld said she was "passionate about introducing others to the sport of skydiving."

According to a blog on the company's website, there is about one fatality per every 500,000 tandem jumps based on a 10-year average running from 2012 to 2022. 

Fundraising campaigns for both victims have been started on GoFundMe.