Skydiver, 65, Plummets to His Death After Parachute Failure While 5,000 Spectators Look On

An unidentified skydiver's parachute became tangled just before he was to give a demonstration at a pomegranate festival in California.

A skydiver plummeted to his death Saturday after his parachute appeared to become tangled just before he was to give a demonstration to a California festival attended by thousands.

The unidentified 65-year-old was reportedly a seasoned skydiver. However, one witness said his chute became tangled immediately after he exited the aircraft.

Witness Linda Carbon was one of around 5,000 people at the Madera Pomegranate Festival on Saturday. She told the Fresno Bee she watched as the wind blew the man across the sky before he smashed back down to earth in a parking area at the Madera Municipal Airport.

Read: Watch Former Walmart CEO Use Emergency Parachute to Land Plane

She said the man struck the ground about 200 feet from her and that many people saw the horrifying tragedy unfold--and some even heard the man hit the ground, she said.

#BreakingNews Madera police confirmed 1 person dead after a skydiving accident. https://t.co/gjQ472iVaG #LIveOnFox26 pic.twitter.com/EfmBB9qzRb

— KMPH FOX 26 (@KMPHFOX26) November 8, 2015

Carbon believed the skydiver unsuccessfully tried to cut away the tangled chute before then attempting to deploy his back-up chute to no avail.