NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — FOX 17 News has obtained new information about the deadly skydiving incident in Nashville last October. A report released by the Federal Aviation Administration details the harrowing moments when a skydiving instructor and student jumped in tandem, or harnessed together, from a plane and got caught on a step on the aircraft.

According to the report, their entanglement and subsequent struggle, documented by a GoPro video, lasted about 10 minutes before the instructor, 35-year-old Justin Fuller, freed himself- falling to his death and allowing the student to land with a parachute.

Fuller spent his final moments performing his life’s passion and work- teaching others to skydive and parachute.

“I know he was doing what he loved,” said Luke Goodion, Fuller’s friend since college, in a previous interview with FOX 17 News.

Fuller was a professional skydiver with more than 5,000 jumps who also trained military and rescue personnel. His famiy tells FOX 17 that Fuller is being honored by military members in Florida on Monday, whom he helped train for parachuting missions.

Fuller, nicknamed “Spidey,” took off from John C. Tune Airport on Oct. 4, 2025, with a group, while instructing with Go Skydive Nashville.

The jump quickly turned catastrophic, ultimately leaving the 46-year-old male student suspended in a tree near Ashland City Highway and Fuller dead, without a harness.

FAA investigators detailed the chain of events, also captured on a GoPro camera worn on Fuller’s wrist.

According to the report, after Fuller and the student jumped out of the plane in tandem, “the pilot observed that a leg strap from the harness was hung up on the step after they exited the aircraft. Pilot attempted to shake them loose to no avail.”

Fuller “motioned to the pilot with a hand signal to cut him loose." But the pilot said he feared losing control of the plane, so he had to retreat backto the cockpit.

The student, who was hanging upside down, said he could feel Fuller “jerking and moving around” for about 10 minutes, before he could no longer feel him at his back, and observed him falling from the aircraft.

Fuller managed to free himself from the harness, leaving the student with only the reserve parachute. The report does not specify exactly how Fuller was able to release himself.

The document said the GoPro footage showed "that immediately upon exiting the aircraft, the TI (tandem instructor) and student became stuck on the aircraft. It showed approximately 10 minutes of the TI attempting to separate himself and the student from the aircraft until he became dislodged from his harness and departed the aircraft.”

FAA Report of Fatal Nashville Skydiving Incident:

The FAA report also noted regarding the plane “no discrepancies noted in the maintenance records. It was observed that the step on the right-hand main landing gear was rotated forward from its normal position.”

FOX 17 News reached out to Go Skydive Nashville, asking how the outfit believes Fuller was able to release himself and how the pair became entangled on the step.

The company’s owner, Robert Hill, did not agree to and interview, but provided a statement, which read in part:

“The FAA’s report confirms that the aircraft involved was properly maintained, with no discrepancies noted in the aircraft or its maintenance records... The findings describe a complex and rapidly evolving emergency during aircraft exit, during which the instructor and student became temporarily entangled on the aircraft step before separating. The student’s reserve parachute deployed successfully, and the student survived the incident. Tragically, instructor Justin Fuller lost his life. Go Skydive Nashville has received the FAA’s report and is reviewing it carefully. We will evaluate the findings in full and, where appropriate, incorporate any improvements that further strengthen our training and operational practices."

Go Skydive Nashville Full Statement: