A man was fatally injured at the Grand Canyon after he attempted to skydive from the national park's South Rim, park officials said.
Park rangers were contacted about a visitor attempting a BASE jump around 7:30 a.m. Thursday, park officials said in a statement. When rangers arrived, they found the man dead, about 500 feet below the rim with a parachute deployed.
BASE jumping is a sport in which participants jump with a parachute from fixed objects. The term BASE is an acronym for locations from which participants jump, such as buildings, antennas, bridges, and ground peaks.
Sport is prohibited throughout the national park.
Authorities believe the man died from the fall despite having deployed his parachute.
Recovery crews were unable to reach the scene until Friday morning, when the body was flown by helicopter to the Coconino County Medical Examiner's Office.
National Park Service officials said the man's name is being withheld until his identity is confirmed and next of kin are notified.
The death at the Grand Canyon was the second to occur at the internationally known natural landmark in the past week.
On Wednesday, Abel Joseph Mejia, 20, of North Carolina, accidentally fell about 400 feet at Pipe Creek Overlook, authorities said in a statement.
Turning Point Pentecostal Church in Ohio posted on Facebook that Mejia was on a mission trip when the fall occurred.
In the statement, Grand Canyon National Park staff encouraged people to stay within designated trails and boardwalks and to stay at least six feet away from the edges.
