Search is on for skydiving instructor lost in tandem jump

LEBANON, Maine (AP) — Authorities in Maine are searching for the body of a skydiving instructor who became separated from his student during a tandem jump.

Officials say 41-year-old Brett Bickford of Rochester, New Hampshire, and his student participated in a jump around 2 p.m. Thursday near Skydive New England in Lebanon. The student called police after he landed safely and couldn't find his instructor.

Maine Department of Public Safety spokesman Steve McCausland says investigators determined the instructor and student became separated about a mile above the ground. McCausland says the instructor didn't have a backup parachute.

Both people use the same parachute in a tandem jump. Police aren't sure how the skydivers became separated.

Authorities suspended the search around 9 p.m. Thursday and resumed Friday morning.