Skydiving Woman Injured When She Hits Taxiing Plane

GARDINER, NY — A skydiver attempting a landing in Ulster County was injured Monday when she fell onto a plane that had just landed.

The New York State Police said troopers were called to Skydive the Ranch in the town of Gardiner at 2:25 p.m. for a report of a skydiving accident.

Police found that Kristin Silva, 24, of New Haven, Connecticut, had been making a final approach to land on the runway when she collided with a Freefall Express aircraft that had landed and was leaving the runway.

Silva landed on the left wing of the aircraft, police said, and her lower left leg hit the propeller.

Her parachute then became entangled in the propeller, causing her to dangle from the wing.

Silva was cut down by witnesses and was conscious and alert.

She suffered a deep cut to her lower left calf and another cut on her chin, neither of which were considered to be life-threatening, police said.

Silva was airlifted to Westchester Medical Center.

Skydive the Ranch has been in the news in the past in relation to skydiving accidents. In 2012, two people were killed in an accident during a jump organized by Skydive the Ranch.

On June 28, William McCartin, 40, of New York, jumped out of a plane that took off from Skydive the Ranch. He was wearing a parachute when he jumped out of the plane at 14,000 feet, but died when he hit the ground — without his parachute — in the parking lot of the Gardiner Fire Department.

A Gardiner man was killed July 5 after trying to do a "swoop landing" in a jump originating at Skydive the Ranch. David H. Richardson, 41, died when he landed at "a high rate of speed," according to the state police.

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