Man Identified After Falling to Ground with Unopened Parachute: ‘A Remarkable Man’ Lived Life ‘to the Fullest’

The skydiver who died in a parachuting accident earlier this month has been identified as 60-year-old Takashi Koyama.

The Office of the Boulder County Coroner confirmed on Tuesday, Nov. 25, that Koyama was the victim of the Nov. 16 incident.

Koyama, who was certified to make parachute jumps, died after his parachute failed to fully deploy.

“A witness at the landing site across the street had observed the parachuter a few hundred feet above the ground descending quickly, in a spin and it appeared his parachute was not fully open,” the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office (BCSO) said in a statement.

Another witness, Danielle, told KCNC that she initially noticed “there was something green on the ground,” which she assumed was a parachute because “there were parachutes still coming down.”

“And I hopped the fence and ran over,” she said. “Called 911 when I noticed it was a person on the ground and they walked me through CPR until first responders were able to get here.”

Authorities responded to a report of an unresponsive skydiver lying face down in a field in Longmont, Colo., according to BCSO.

After Koyama’s next of kin, his son Shizuka, was notified of his death, Shizuka created a GoFundMe campaign. In the fundraiser, he paid tribute to his father and explained that he is raising money to fulfill Koyama’s wish to be cremated and laid to rest in both the United States and Japan, “a tribute to the life he lived to the fullest.”

“My father, Takashi Koyama, was a remarkable man who cherished both Japan and America, the lands he called home and loved deeply,” the GoFundMe page states. “After his sudden passing, I am determined to honor his wishes and take care of his affairs, but the journey is overwhelming.”

Koyama’s son, a nursing student, wrote that his mother died years ago and that he is now “the only one left to handle everything.” He added that unexpected funeral and memorial expenses “bring new challenges and the financial burden has become tremendous.”

Reporters reached out to Shizuka for additional comment.

At the time of Koyama’s death, he was believed to have been skydiving with Mile-Hi Skydiving. The company confirmed that it experienced an accident on Nov. 16, KCNC reported.

According to KUSA, the Nov. 16 death was the seventh fatality in seven years associated with the company. Two people died in 2018, two in 2019, one in 2021, one in 2024 and then the November 2025 incident.

Reporters also contacted Mile-Hi Skydiving for comment on Nov. 20.