"Over 18 years, through profound changes in skydiving equipment, procedures, and methods of instruction, Jim has worked hard to produce the dramatic decline in serious accidents in our sport."

While her skydiving accomplishments were incredible, it was her humanity and her love of friends and family that made her such an icon in the skydiving world.

Canopy collisions are a fairly common cause of skydiving fatalities. The sport has seen improvement in recent years because drop zones have become more diligent about separating high-performance and standard landings and have also spent more effort educating jumpers on the importance of proper landing patterns, exit separation and separation during deployment.

PHOTO BY Justin Duclos | D-33248

Jevin Johnson makes his first AFF jump instructed by his father, Jeff Johnson (right), and Austin Larman at Kapowsin Air Sports in Shelton, Washington.