Skydiver dies after mid-air tangle

BRISBANE - A skydiver with more than 7000 jumps under her belt has died after she and another skydiver became entangled during a parachuting competition in north Queensland.

Doctor Fiona McEachern, 50, died about 12.50pm on Saturday at Tully, south of Cairns, police said on Monday.

She'd recently written an article for the Australian Parachute Foundation on how to avoid mid-air impacts with other skydivers, known as canopy collisions.

The other skydiver, a 42-year-old man, survived.

Police said the accident happened during a parachuting championship.

Dr McEachern was taken to Tully Hospital, but died on arrival.

In her recent article, she said it was important to have a plan to deal with mid-air collisions before they happened.

"Have a plan. An emergency is not the time to get creative," she wrote.

Dr McEachern, from NSW, was regarded as one of the world's most experienced female skydivers. She had competed in more than 7000 jumps since taking up the sport in 1984.

Her achievements include two silver medals in the Australian four-way open division and women's four-way division at the World Cup in Portugal in 1998.

Police and Workplace Health and Safety are investigating.

- AAP