Tragedy strikes VBT resident as he attempts to break his own skydiving record

Tragedy struck for a local resident and his teammate early Saturday morning, in a skydiving accident in Whiteville, Tennessee, near Memphis.
James Wigginton of Van Buren Township and Thomas J Noonan, III, were attempting to break Wigginton’s Guinness World Record for highest tandem skydive, when Noonan fell unconscious in the plane, at an altitude of 41,000 feet, with the door open and the two of them partway out.
They had switched from the on-board oxygen system to their portable jump oxygen, which malfunctioned at that altitude, and Noonan could not be revived. Wigginton said that Noonan, 47, was an international legend in the skydiving community, tandem master instructor for over 25 years, and longtime teammate of Wigginton and PH de Barre, of Coiurcheval, France, who together, set numerous records and extreme skydives around the world.
Noonan, of New Smryna, FL, is survived by his fiancée Julie Watkins, also of New Smyrna, his mother Rita Noonan and his sister Kelly Noonan, both of Boston, MA.