Engaged Couple Dies After Bungee Jump Safety Clips Fail

An Italian couple looking for one last thrill together before getting married instead became the victims of one of the sport’s most tragic accidents.

On May 1, 2002, Alberto Galletti, 25, and Tiziana Accora, 26, traveled to the Polino Bungee Jumping Center near Terni, Italy, hoping to make a tandem jump from the 330-foot-high Ponte Canale bridge.

According to reports, the facility had already closed early for the May Day holiday when the couple called and pleaded with manager Lorenzo Illuminati to stay open a little longer so they could make one final jump.

He agreed.

The couple, locked in each other’s arms, leaped from the bridge expecting the familiar rush of freefall followed by the elastic cord bringing them safely back.

Instead, disaster struck.

Investigators say the bungee cord itself never failed. Rather, the metal snap-hooks that connected the system to the bridge reportedly came loose, sending the couple plunging the full 330 feet into the canyon below.

Both were killed instantly.

As was customary at the attraction, the jump was being recorded on video so participants could purchase a souvenir of their experience. Instead, the recording became evidence in the subsequent investigation.

“It is terrible,” manager Lorenzo Illuminati said afterward. “Just an hour earlier another couple had jumped safely using the same cord and the same clips.”

Police said the accident marked the first fatal incident at the site.

Investigators focused on the anchoring hardware and safety system rather than the elastic cord itself, which remained intact after the fall. Authorities also examined whether equipment failure, improper installation, or human error contributed to the tragedy.

Officials noted that the system was reportedly designed to support far more than the couple’s combined weight, making the apparent failure all the more puzzling.

The bungee jumping center was closed while investigators attempted to determine how a routine jump ended in a catastrophic equipment failure that cost two young people their lives just months before their wedding.