Skydiver plummeted to Death in San Francisco

 The mother of a skydiver who plummeted to his death with an instructor in a California vineyard said her teenage son was an adventurous spirit who was willing to try just about anything  including the jump that was on his bucket list of things to do in life.

Tyler Turner, 18, had a mild case of cerebral palsy and walked

with a crouched gait. His mother Francine  Turner said that didn't dampen his zest for life.

Tyler Turner had graduated from high school with honors and
had been bound for the University of California at Merced this
month to study biomedical engineering.

On Saturday, his mother drove Turner and his best friend to the
Parachute Center in Lodi, east of San Francisco, where she says they joined two other friends and sped through a safety
video Before going up in a plane, Tyler Turner knelt at the edge of the jumping area and said a quick prayer. He gave his mom a tight hug and told her he loved her.

He jumped while his mother waited on the ground, wondering
which one of the tiny dots in the air was her son.

Tyler Turner and the instructor died when they plunged together
to the ground after their shared parachute did not open.

Francine Turner said the instructor was found with his hand on
the lever for a backup parachute but it was never pulled.
San Joaquin County sheriff's officials have not identified the
instructor.

"One of the last things they wanted to do was go on a
skydiving trip they've been talking about," Turner said about her
son and his friends, who jumped safely. "I hate for any other
mother to go through this."

Turner said she paid $175 for her son's jump, which included a
video recording that is now in the hands of federal
investigators.

The four friends filled out paperwork but didn't finish watching
the safety video before they were hustled into gear, she said.
Turner said she was appalled that the center continued sending
people up to jump while she waited for word about her son.
She thought the center might halt operations.

"I'm out there waiting for my son to be recovered, for hours,
and they just kept jumping over my head," she said.
Bill Dause, owner of the Parachute Center, said the instructor
was a veteran who had about 700 previous jumps. Dause said
he sympathized but there was nothing he could do.

"It was just an accident," he told The Associated Press on Monday.

Dause told Sacramento television station KCRA on Saturday that
it appeared "something may have gone out of sequence in the
jump." He did not elaborate.

The wind and other conditions were perfect, he added.
In May, a small plane carrying 17 skydivers took off from the
center and landed upside-down after clipping a pickup truck.
People involved sustained minor cuts and scrapes.

In February, the Lodi News-Sentinel reported a solo skydiver
died after a parachute malfunction at the center. Further details
were not immediately available.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to help cover funeral costs
for Tyler Turner.