Chennai, Jan 30 (IANS): A 26-year-old woman sky diver died after falling to the ground from a height of around 10,000 ft when her parachute malfunctioned during a training session near Salem in Tamil Nadu, said an official.

Ramya, member of the Bangalore-based Indian Skydiving and Parachute Association (ISPA), had jumped off a small aircraft during a skydiving training session near an unused airstrip in Salem, around 365 km from here.

She was here along with her husband Vinod and other members of the association for practice.

When Ramya pulled the trigger, the parachute did not open. The reserve/emergency chute too did not open when she tried to open them.

To the horror of Vinod and other members, she plummeted through the sky, falling on agricultural land.

"The villagers and the association members took Ramya to the nearby hospital where the doctors declared her dead," Mettur Sub-Divisional Magistrate Anish Sekhar told IANS over phone.

He said an investigation is on as to the reason why the parachute malfunctioned.