One skydiver injured, another stuck 80 feet in the air over Franklin County
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- A skydiver spent two hours stuck 80 feet high in a tree near Peach Orchard Road.
- Fire crews, municipal teams, and Woodchuck Tree Service helped rescue the skydiver.
- A second skydiver suffered moderate injuries and was taken to WakeMed Raleigh.
A skydiver walked away uninjured after spending three hours Saturday night stuck 80 feet above the ground in trees near Peach Orchard Road in Franklin County.
Another skydiver who made a hard landing at a nearby airport wasn’t so lucky.
Mike Hollister, owner of Skydive Raleigh, said 12 skydivers were coming in for a perfect landing, and so was their plane, when a microburst came out of nowhere.
“It was such fluke thing,” Hollister said. “Sudden wind changes when you’re someone flying through the air can really get you.”
And so can retelling the story.
Hollister became emotional Sunday afternoon as he told The News & Observer how two of his skydivers were caught up in the intense gust of wind.
“We’re at the mercy of weather conditions as much as everyone else,” Hollister said.
More than 40 first-time jumpers went out Saturday with Skydive Raleigh. And that was with suspended services for several hours due to wind.
It was the last trip of the day when the incident happened, Hollister said.
Hollister said the person who was injured was thrown into the ground hard at Skydive Raleigh off Highway 56. He was a seasoned jumper with every credential possible, Hollister added.
Franklin County Emergency Medical Services took the skydiver at the airport to the WakeMed Raleigh with moderate injuries.
The one who was flung into a tree was a student.
“One of our skydivers is in the hospital,” Hollister said, his voice cracking. “He’s fine, but it was scary for a while.”
Franklin County Emergency Management Director Nicholas Thorpe told The News & Observer a pair of 911 calls came into Franklin County Emergency Communications around 6:30 p.m.
Homeowners reported the man in the tree.
Fire crews, along with Woodchuck Tree Service, worked together to climb the large-in-diameter tree in a wooded-area and rescue the skydiver.
Hollister said it wasn’t raining when the incident happened, but 90 minutes into the rescue, it began.
Thorpe said the rain and the diameter of the tree slowed the rescue.
Hollister said that none of the rescuers had equipment tall enough to get to his student. He said an instructor stayed with him the entire time, and they’ve nicknamed him, “Squirrel,” after sitting on a limb for three hours.
“It took a complete county, municipal and private sector effort to help this person get down from the tree safely,” Thorpe said. “Incidents like this are serious and life-threatening to the person who is stuck in the tree and for the responders who have the responsibility to rescue people under any circumstance. Tonight the entire community came together, and we are glad this person was able to walk way from this incident.”
Mark Price contributed to this story.
This story was originally published April 26, 2026 at 12:06 PM with the headline "One skydiver injured, another stuck 80 feet in the air over Franklin County."
