LONGMONT, Colo.—Autopsies performed Sunday on a skydiving instructor and student killed in a skydiving accident in Longmont show both died of multiple blunt force injuries, Boulder County Coroner Thomas Faure said.
Instructor Daniel Braafhart, 54, of Commerce City and Matthew Seering, 28, of Arvada were doing a tandem jump with Mile-Hi Skydiving Center, based at Vance Brand Municipal Airport, on Saturday.
Airport manager Tim Barth said everything apparently was fine until about 100 feet from the ground, after Braafhart made a sharp turn. He said the men had a hard fall from about 50 feet in the air.
The Federal Aviation Administration was investigating.
Seering’s friend Chris Weber told KUSA-TV in Denver that Seering, an instructor at Blue River Anglers and a bartender during the off-season, loved snowboarding and hunting.
“I miss him being gone. That’s what I miss the most. Period,” Weber said.
Braafhart is survived by a wife and children.
“He was 54 and he lived like he was 34. Absolutely. Full of life,” Braafhart’s co-worker Brian Roach told KUSA.
