Man jumps from plane with no parachute

DUANESBURG, N.Y., June 8 (UPI) -- A man was killed after deliberately jumping without a parachute from a small skydiving plane over Duanesburg, N.Y., police say.

Sloan Carafello, 29, of Schenectady, N.Y. struck a house, splitting his body in two, just before 2 p.m. Saturday, the Albany (N.Y.) Times-Union reported Sunday.

Bob Rawlins, the pilot and owner of the Duanesburg Skydiving Club, said he was flying the Cessna 182 from which Carafello leaped from about 10,000 feet above the ground.

Rawlins said after the instructor, student and videographer onboard dove from the single-engine plane, Carafello jumped out as the door was closing. He was holding a camera but no sky diving gear.

The videographer filmed as Carafello fell and Carafello took pictures of himself while falling, Rawlins said.

Carafello had called the skydiving company about a week ago inquiring about going up as an observer. He said he wanted to take aerial photos for a school project, Rawlins said.

"It wasn't an accident," Rawlins told the Schenectady Gazette. "He committed suicide."

Authorities are investigating, but said they didn't suspect foul play.