I am writing this to warn future customers about my experience at Skydive Spaceland Dallas with…read moretandem instructor Jahn Carlo Picado. Skydiving is a premium, high-stress bucket-list activity. Clear instruction, basic communication, and professional treatment should be the minimum. I did not get that.
If you are assigned Jahn Carlo Picado and he seems unfriendly, rude, or curt, ask for a different instructor immediately. Do not make the mistake I did.
During pre-flight ground training, he only briefly showed me how to lift my hands, squat toward the door of the airplane, and hold a body arch. He did not demonstrate or have me practice the leg-lift position used for landing. I went into the jump without that preparation.
In the air, communication was almost nonexistent. The only thing he asked before exit was a generic "Are you ready?" I was given no warning and no countdown before the parachute opened. He pulled the cord without telling me. The opening was an instant, hard deceleration, and I felt a sharp pain in my right leg. Only after the canopy was already open did he ask, "How do you feel?" It felt like the question was for the camera, not for me.
Under canopy, he did not check or adjust my harness. The contrast was obvious. My friend's instructor, Erik, checked and adjusted her thigh straps after deployment without her having to ask. That basic attention was not given to me.
On landing, I struggled to lift my legs as high as he wanted. I was dealing with an adrenaline rush, pain in my leg, and a position that had never been practiced with me on the ground. He became aggressive, swore at me in the air, and shouted that he was going to "have to fucking save my life." After that, he said nothing else to guide me. I was terrified and thought we were going to crash. I did my best to get my legs up, and we finished in a standing landing.
After we landed, he did not ask if I was okay. He pulled my harness off without a word and told me to get out of the area and wait in the lobby.
During the post-jump video interview, the videographer, Juancho -- the only staff member who was polite and encouraging -- asked if I would do it again. I said yes to keep the moment positive for the camera. Jahn stepped into the frame and snapped, "You should not be doing this." I was humiliated.
This also affected my friend, who jumped after me. Before her flight, he pointed at me in front of others and had her practice the leg lift on a training picnic table because I "couldn't do it" -- the same landing position that was never practiced with me.
The rest of our group of five had a good experience, including my friend on her jump with Jahn on the very next load. Her video shows a patient, conversational jump. He talked with her about his family. My freefall and canopy ride were silent except for that one question after deployment. My friend and my husband also jumped with an instructor named David, whom they described as wonderful. From what I saw and experienced, I was treated very differently.
When I reported this at the front desk, staff defended Jahn instead of looking into what I described. I was told "skydiving is not for everybody," and that "something must have happened" for an instructor to act that way. That put the blame on me. They also gave me an incorrect email address for manager Brian Lane.
I found the correct domain online and emailed him. A small typo sent the first message to a corporate marketing director, who forwarded it to Brian Lane. He said he would look into it when he returned from vacation on Wednesday, September 23, 2026. In the response submitted by Paula, she mentions that she tried calling on September 23, 2026. I haven't spoken to Paula. The only person who called me on the phone to talk to me was Brian Lane. There is no voicemail or email that was sent to me. After I missed one call from Brian, he did not call back, did not respond to my follow-up emails, and did not leave a voicemail. When I called his number directly, the call was cut and went straight to voicemail.
The other false claim put there is there were several (meaning more than one) interupitons from my group while instructing me. When Jahn Carlo Picado was showing me how to raise my hands my husband tried to show me to raise the hands, and Jahn Carlo Picado immediately shut him down saying 'Amigo Please' and my husband raised his hands in surrender and immediately backed off and did not interrupt him again. A one second interruption that was immediately cut off my the instructor does not justify the abuse and harassment that I have faced. Brian Lane on the call tried to justify the lack of rapport with the instructor on this one second interruption and is now falsely claiming that people from our group interrupted several times.
I would not jump with Jahn Carlo Picado again. If I were assigned to him, I would ask for a different instructor.
