It has been confirmed that the brother-in-law of six-time and defending Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson lost his life yesterday in a skydiving accident in San Diego.
NBC San Diego reports that 27-year-old Jordan Janway, the brother of Johnson’s wife, Chandra, collided in mid-air with another diver during a training session at the Skydive San Diego complex. The other diver was not injured and landed safely.
Janway was a skydiving instructor with more than 1,000 jumps to his credit. His parachute did not deploy in the incident, and less than an hour after he was first reported missing, his body was found by a sheriff’s helicopter.
According to Skydive San Diego owner Buzz Fink, the parachutes have a chip that will automatically deploy the chute should the diver be falling too fast.
However, Fink said that Janway’s chip was undergoing maintenance and was not on his chute. Additionally, since Janway had jumped more than 1,000 times, he was not required to jump with the chip and did not do so.
“We do well over 100,000 jumps a year, and we pride ourselves on our safety and everything we do as far as our equipment, our airplanes,” Fink told NBC San Diego. “However, it is skydiving and things can happen and generally you do everything we can to prevent it.”
“I liken it to driving down the road. You have a safety belt, an air bag. The bottom line is, you’re still at a risk if someone crosses that line and hits your car,” he said.
Today, the Johnsons released the following statement on the driver’s web site that read as follows:
The Johnsons are saddened by the tragic passing of Chandra’s brother, Jordan Janway, 27. Jordan was an incredible son, brother, uncle and friend and will be dearly missed. Please keep the Janway family in your thoughts and prayers. The family asks for privacy at this time.
We certainly pass along our condolences and sympathy to them.