re: Navy Seal skydiver killed. Chute didn't open.

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but local news reports that the body was recovered from the river

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I don't doubt that he went into the river; I was just stating that the idea of him cutting away so that he could land in the river doesn't make a sense.

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they published photos of the entire chute rig being guarded by police in a nearby shopping center parking lot.

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My guess is that they took/cut it off of him when they got him out of the water so they could do cpr or get him into the ambulance. The rig was likely set aside for that and has police officers watching it until an expert who is knowledgeable about the equipment can come and properly collect the evidence.

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If his main tangled, he should had plenty of time to deploy the reserve. Is there any reason at all someone would get out of the harness? Reserve getting tangled with the main somehow?

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There are a host of possibilities. He could have been under a spinning main and didn't get proper separation after cutting the main and before deploying his reserve; this could cause the reserve to get tangled in the main. Or his main could have had a problem develop too low for him to safely cut it away. Or any one of a hundred other things. But no, there is zero reason that one would get out of the harness in air. When I went through water training we learned to take the gear off AFTER we landed in the water. So that is a possibility. But there's really too many different factors here and the vast majority of news reports are from laymen who have little knowledge (or even incorrect ideas) of skydiving. So getting an accurate picture of the event is difficult from initial reports.

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As far as the Navy Seal, I don't know any of the specifics but a true total malfunction of both the main and reserve are extremely rare (like it just doesn't happen with modern gear that is properly maintained). Someone mentioned that he was low and cut away in an attempt to fall into the river ... I highly doubt this. Again, I don't know the details of the incident, but as an up jumper I can say that is in no way something that an experienced jumper would ever do intentionally. I'd guess that these reports are coming from people without an experience and have no knowledge of the mechanics/gear used in skydiving.

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wow, make sure you reach out to the family or even send the deceased a card telling him this. It will surely help them in their time of need

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What the frick are you talking about? Are you trying to be a dick? Because that's how that statement comes across.

I was watching the jumps from near the base of the Freedom Tower yesterday.

Luckily, I never saw the failed chute.

Chelsea pier was crawling with military, helicopters, battleships, and a submarine.

The whole scene was pretty amazing.

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People who die while skydiving are idiots who we should laugh at; unless they're navy seals, because all seals are heroes. Am I doing this right?

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The difference is the military does it out of necessity for their job, civilians do it for fun.

While this seal wasn't jumping into combat, they still have to practice. So yeah, I think there is a difference actually.

Reminds me of that joke:

There are two kinds of cliff divers, Grand Champion and Stuff on a Rock. Same holds true for skydiving.