Skydiver found dead in tree

The best friend of a Sydney man who died during a skydive on the NSW far south coast yesterday has told police a medical emergency must be the reason his mate's jump went wrong.

The 49-year-old's body was found in a tree, tangled up in his parachute 40 metres above the ground, after he and three others took off from Moruya airport for a routine jump at about 11am.

The man, an experienced skydiver from Manly Vale, had jumped from the plane with one of his best mates, according to skydiving company Skydiving Oz.

The pair performed several planned manoeuvres during a freefall from 3,600 to 1200 metres, police said.

But the 49-year-old was blown off course into bushland north-west of the airport and became tangled up in a tree.

A Skydiving Oz spokeswoman said the man's friend watched as the near-perfect dive went wrong.

"All we know... is that his equipment worked perfectly well and he was under an open parachute," Fleur Vaughan said.

"He then landed off the drop zone and he didn't appear to be doing anything to steer his parachute back."

The man's best friend told police and Skydiving Oz that some kind of medical emergency must have caused the problem.

"A man of his experience doesn't just stop steering his canopy," Ms Vaughan said.

A post-mortem examination is this evening expected to shed more light on what went wrong, Batemans Bay police Inspector, Gary Megay, said.

The pair had been diving all weekend, Ms Vaughan said. The 49-year-old was a highly-experienced, "very calm, quiet" man who was in good health and very fit.

A report is being prepared for the coroner.

- © Fairfax NZ News