We trust our friends with our lives when we step out of a plane. But sometimes the smallest mistake in the sky leads to a tragedy on the ground.

WHAT HAPPENED

A group of skydivers took to the sky in California for what should have been a routine flight. During the jump, two people crashed into each other while still high in the air.

One man, a visitor from Tahiti, fell all the way down to the 215 Freeway. Drivers found his body on the road, which forced police to shut down the busy highway for hours.

The second jumper involved in the crash survived. Police have not yet said how badly that person was hurt or how they were able to land.

What the evidence shows

• 1 skydiver confirmed dead on the 215 Freeway.
• 2 jumpers hit each other during a group flight.
• 1 jumper survived the midair hit.
• The victim traveled from Tahiti for the jump.
• The crash happened on a Tuesday morning.

THE BIGGER QUESTION

Extreme sports always come with risks for the people who do them. But we rarely think about how those risks affect the public below.

How do we keep the people on the ground safe when things go wrong in the air? This event shows that a mistake in the clouds can quickly become a crisis for people just driving to work.

WHAT HAPPENS NOW

Police are looking into the safety rules at the local jump site to see if this could have been stopped. Drivers on the 215 Freeway are dealing with the trauma of what they saw on their morning commute. Local flight schools may face new pressure to change how they handle group jumps near big roads.

WHAT WE STILL DON'T KNOW

1. Did the parachutes fail to open after the hit?
2. How fast were the two jumpers moving when they crashed?
3. What was the experience level of the two men?