John Seymour, 46, former skydiver

[LandonEx]

Tennessee Skydiver Falls to His Death

KNOXVILLE, Tennessee (AP) -- A skydiver fell to his death in front of 200,000
spectators after apparently misjudging the distance to the lake where he was
supposed to splash down and disconnecting his parachute too early.

John Seymour, 46, jumped from a plane with 10 other skydivers Monday as part of
the downtown Boomsday fireworks display.

He disconnected his parachute when he was about 30 feet above Fort Loudoun
Lake, said Ronnie Smith, instructor for the Skydive Smoky Mountain team. Many
skydivers cut away their chutes when are 5 to 6 feet from the water.

"It's hard to judge the distance to the water,'' Smith said.

Seymour hit the lake and wasn't breathing when rescuers pulled him out.

"I thought it was part of the act,'' said Lance Payne of Morristown. "I just
saw the chute go up and he fell down.''

The skydiving preceded the fireworks show, which went on as scheduled.

AP-NY 09-03-02 13:20 EDTL

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