Your Florida Daily: Titusville skydiver killed in hard landing, more Brightline trains added

Plus, where you can find museum dedicated to microscopic sculptures

ORLANDO, Fla. – Titusville police are expected to release the name of a skydiver killed after a hard landing in a resident’s front lawn.

The skydiver - who police described as a man outfitted in parachute attire and gear - was found on the lawn of a home along Merry Lane on Saturday.

Neighbors rushed to help, but the man died at the scene.

A reflection of the landing was captured on a RING doorbell camera and appears to show the moments just before the man hit the ground.

James Sconiers told News 6 it was his front yard where the man landed.

“I was asking the person that was laying on the ground, ’Hey man, can you hear me, can you hear me…' but he did not answer,” Sconiers said.

“Look at the video and look at what happened, why did he fall so hard if all the safety mechanism in place, something tells me there’s a problem there,” he said.

Officials said the planned to release more information about what happened sometime Monday.

Passengers walk to board the first train service from Miami to Orlando Friday, Sept. 22, 2023, in Miami. Brightline, which began running its neon-yellow trains between Miami and West Palm Beach in 2018, is the first private intercity passenger service to begin U.S. operations in a century.(AP Photo/Marta Lavandier). (Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

More Brightline trains are now running to and from Central Florida.

Starting today, the company is doubling the number of daily trips between Orlando and Miami.

There will now be 15 departures with the first train leaving the Orlando International Airport station at 4:38 a.m.

The final train will depart Orlando at 8:54 p.m.

Brightline began its service between the two cities just over two weeks ago with the trains at 75% capacity.

A one-way ride takes about three and a half hours with the trains traveling up to 125 mph.

Photo by matty10 on Unsplash (Unsplash)

Fall may have finally arrived in Florida.

The first cold front of the fall season moved through over the weekend bringing cooler, drier air in its wake.

After a cloudy cool Sunday, meteorologists say today’s high temperature will reach the low 80s before rain comes back into the forecast on Wednesday.

Random Florida Fact

St. Augustine has a lot of museums but there’s a chance you’ve never wandered into the Micro Masterpieces Art Gallery.

It features paintings and sculptures only visible through a lighted microscope. The miniatures were carefully hand-crafted by Ukrainian artists.

The artists use the eye of a needle as the canvas or a poppy seed. The collection also includes the world’s smallest book.

The gallery shares a gift shop with the Medieval Torture Museum and is free to enter.


About the Author

Katrina Scales is a producer for the News 6+ Takeover at 3:30 p.m. She also writes and voices the podcast Your Florida Daily. Katrina was born and raised in Brevard County and started her journalism career in radio before joining News 6 in June 2021.

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