SPRINGFIELD TWP, Ohio — A Butler County man making his first jump at a skydiving school plunged to his death Sunday afternoon when his parachute became tangled, authorities said.

The 65-year-old Saxonburg man about 1 p.m. landed just west of the Petersburg Airport, home to Skydive Rick’s skydiving school near Youngstown, Ohio.

Springfield Township police and firefighters were called to the accident. Police said they believed the man, whose name was not immediately released, was alive when emergency crews got there.

While his legs got entangled with the main chute, authorities reported, he managed to open his reserve chute but still hit the ground hard.

He was taken to St. Elizabeth Hospital in Youngstown, where he later died.

The Mahoning County Coroner’s office and the Springfield Township Fire Department are investigating, police said.

A spokesman for Coroner Dr. David Kennedy said the office was not releasing information this morning.

Chief Matthew Gebhardt of the Springfield Township Fire Department did not return a telephone call.

Skydive Rick’s co-owner Kay Kuhns says the man had past parachuting experience with the military.

Kuhns or her husband, Rick, could not be reached this morning for any other comment.