Police: 2 dead in Utah skydiving accident

Two skydivers are dead after an apparent parachute malfunction in a tandem jump in central Utah.

Police chief Michael Morgan in Nephi, Utah, said Friday the instructor and client were on a recreational jump run by the company Skydive the Wasatch.

Captain Bert Wright says one parachute failed and the second deployed but was unable to fully slow their descent Thursday evening.

Wright says they died at a hospital just over an hour after a 911 call.

They were identified as 35-year-old instructor Serena Whelchel of California and 41-year-old client Wendi Gabaldon of Tooele, Utah.

Police are investigating why the parachutes failed to function properly after the jump from the Cessna 182 plane.

The company sent its condolences to the two families. Nephi is about 85 miles south of Salt Lake City.