Since Tyler Turner’s Death in 2016, 6 skydiver’s have reportedly died. The founder of the Parachute Center says he won’t close down.
Every year daredevils skydive out of planes an estimated three million times, and accidents are rare. But, on one 18-year-old’s very first jump, his parachute failed to open and he and the tandem diver both died. Haunting video shows the moments leading up to the deadly plunge.
Video from 2016 showed Tyler Turner, 18, about to board the plane before his jump. The parachute jump was a high school graduation gift from his mother. It was a tandem jump and Turner was attached to his instructor.
The parachute failed to open and both plummeted 13,000 feet to their deaths.
"Everybody that knew him loved him," Turner's mother, Francine Turner tells Inside Edition "I assumed and would have had no doubt that [the instructors] knew what they were doing and they were doing it properly."
Later in the day after the tragic incident, when Tyler’s mother saw people still skydiving, she says she approached the founder of the parachute center.
“I asked, ‘How is everything still happening as normal? Why is everything still up in operation? My son just died.’ He goes, ‘Well, you don’t stop the freeway when there’s an accident,’” Francine says.
What Francine did not know at the time was that the parachute center in Lodi, California, may be the deadliest skydiving center in the United States.
The skydiving school has reportedly been linked to 28 deaths since 1985, leaving many wondering why the parachute center is still allowed to let people jump.
In a separate incident, an 80-year-old grandmother was fulfilling her bucket list when she slipped out of her tandem harness in 2012. She was able to hang on and survive the jump.
Another skydiver lost her life in 2019 after strong winds sent her crashing into a semi-truck.
Since Tyler’s death, six more people have reportedly died at the skydiving center.
The skydiving school’s founder, 81-year-old Bill Dause, spoke with Inside Edition.
Dause says he does not think it was anyone’s fault that Tyler died and that it was an accident.
"All of the people that are here have a license, satisfies the experience level for the Federal Aviation Administration," Dause says.
It later emerged that Tyler's tandem instructor was unlicensed.
"We were able to get the video viewed and assessed by professional jumpers. That's how we found out this tandem jumper didn't know what to do and that it was preventable," Francine Turner says. "He was not trained properly. It was a signed document but the training behind that signature was not there."
When Dause was asked if he felt guilty about Tyler’s death, he said, “Unfortunately I don't.”
The skydive center founder says the first two or three deaths at his facility kept him up at night but has not felt remorse for the deaths since then.
"If you see a lot of car wrecks, it doesn't bother you. Car wrecks don't even make the news nowadays because there's so many of them," Dause says. “Well, I feel for it, but I realize that it’s just part of life. Part of moving on. Part of the sport, if you will."
Dause says he has completed over 31,000 jumps, often as a tandem instructor. He says he currently mainly fills in odd jobs around the parachute center.
Dause says he is running a safe operation even with his skydive center being linked to the 28 deaths. "They're all totally different situations," Dause says.
"What should we do? Shut down? Close our doors? Will that make it safer," Dause says.
A $40 million judgment was awarded to Tyler's family in 2021. So far Francine Turner says she has not seen one cent.
When asked if he was going to pay Tyler's family, Dause tells Inside Edition, "Nothing. Why? I don't have it."
Tyler’s mother says her son screened a training video that was already in progress. That video, Francine says, was the extent of his parachute training.
“They were not properly trained,” Francine says. “Skipping the training part is what took my son’s life, and they’re responsible for that.”
