Coroner Heather McKenzie said Tyler Nii, 27, went missing after an uncontrolled descent into Lake Wakatipu during the tandem jump with NZOne Skydive near Jack’s Point on January 10, 2018.
She confirmed Mr Nii’s death was ‘‘consistent with drowning’’, but because his body had not been found, he remained a missing person until she made a formal finding.
Mr Nii and tandem master James Stavro hit the lake at an estimated 50kmh-70kmh after both their main and reserve chutes failed to deploy properly.
Mr Nii surfaced, but his lifejacket did not inflate properly, and he disappeared a short time later.
Mr Stavro was rescued about 15 minutes later.
Ms McKenzie said two investigations by the Civil Aviation Authority did not find any breaches of health and safety or aviation rules, but it made recommendations that included updating water hazard procedures for skydiving operators.
A Transport Accident Investigation Commission report, completed in 2021, led to a series of recommendations focusing on emergency water landings.
As a result of the reports, NZOne implemented a series of operational changes that included having its own rescue boat on stand-by.
