Skydiver killed during jump is brother

JAMUL, Calif. - The San Diego skydiving community is mourning the loss of one of their own.

'Nice guy,' said Skydive San Diego Owner, Buzz Fink, going on he said, 'everybody like him, he was happy go lucky and the kind of guy I would like my kids to grow up like.'

27-year old Jordan Janway, who is the 'brother in law' of NASCAR superstar Jimmie Johnson, was an FAA certified senior parachute rigger and instructor with over a thousand jumps.

He and three other expert skydivers were practicing a high speed horizontal move when something went wrong and he collided with another jumper.

'I believe he hit his head on his thigh or knee.' Said Fink, trying to explain what may have happened.

'This device reads altitude, and how high you are,' explained 'Skydive' San Diego's director, Blake Robinson, adding, 'and how fast your falling.'

Robinson has worked with Janway for the last 5 years and considered him family.

As a certified parachute rigger, part of Janway's job was to make sure the parachutes were working properly. All parachutes today are fitted with what is called an Automated Activation Device, in case a jumper gets into trouble.

'If you have a malfunction or something going on but your going fast enough to get seriously and critically injured,' said Robinson, adding, 'you go through that altitude and this device is designed to deploy the reserve parachute.'

After the midair collision on Sunday, Janway's 'chute' never deployed. He was jumping without the Automated Activation Device because it had malfunctioned a week ago and was being repaired.

'It's just a sad accident that happened in the sky,' said Fink, adding, 'it's a domino affect. If this happened and he had on his AAD, chances are he'd be sitting here talking today.

As news spread throughout the skydiving and base jumping worlds, an outpouring of shock and sadness on social media sites, many of the messages, an ode to his free falling and free flying lifestyle.

'We can tell you it's absolutely worth it,' said Robinson, adding, that Jordan would say the same thing, 'he would tell you absolutely it's worth it - otherwise he wouldn't have gone up there yesterday.

Through his foundation, Jimmie Johnson issued a statement expressing his family's sadness and asked for privacy for the Janway family. A memorial service has not yet been announced.