Cause of skydiver’s death still unknown, FAA says

Federal Aviation Administration investigators have not been able to determine what caused a Newport Beach woman to plummet to her death in a skydiving accident in December.

Brooke Baum, 33, a Newport Beach physician’s assistant, died Dec. 26 when her primary parachute did not deploy during a skydiving outing near the Perris Valley Airport, just south of the 215 Freeway.

“We did as thorough an investigation as we could,” said Ian Gregor, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, which investigated the death. “We examined the parachute, we talked to witnesses, looked at video, but ultimately couldn’t come to any conclusion or determine a cause.”

Baum’s parachute was properly packed before the accident, Gregor said.

It was Baum’s second jump of the day Friday, when, for some reason, her primary parachute did not open at an altitude of about 2,500 feet.

A second, auxiliary parachute did not open until Baum was only a few hundred feet from the ground.

Baum was a regular at Perris Valley Skydiving, and a seasoned skydiver who had anywhere from 500 to 1,000 jumps under her belt.

The death was one of three fatal skydiving accidents in 2008 at Perris Valley Skydiving.

— Brianna Bailey