An experienced skydiving instructor who fell to his death during a tandem jump in York County in September committed suicide by intentionally undoing his harness, Maine State Police said Monday. Brett BIckford, 41, of Rochester, New Hampshire, was the instructor strapped to a client on a two-person jump for Skydive New England on Sept. 27 when he was reportedly separated from the second person about a mile above ground. The student, who has not been named, landed safely and is unharmed, The Press Herald reported. The incident took place in Maine, where Bickford had been an instructor with Skydive New England for at least 10 years. IF YOU NEED HELP WHERE to get help if you or anyone you know is battling depression or has had suicidal thoughts: Maine Crisis Hotline: 888-568-1112 Other state resources in Maine: Dial 211 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-8255 
 
 Bickford’s body was found the next day about 750 feet southwest of the Lebanon Airport runway by a team of game wardens, a state trooper and two members of a search-and-rescue team. The Press Herald also reported that the State Medical Examiner’s Office has also ruled Bickford’s fall a suicide. Skydiving experts have found it nearly impossible for Bickford’s death to be an accident as they claim no instructor at his level would make that mistake, Spokesman for the Main Department of Public Safety Steve McCausland explained to The Press Herald. “Investigators concluded that Bickford loosened his harness in midair and it was an intentional act.” 
 
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 It took search crews nearly 28 hours to locate Bickford’s body after he did not land with his client, who was not hurt, according to police. “State police interviews with other skydivers and industry officials concluded that no experienced skydiver would loosen a parachute harness by mistake,” said Steve McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety. In addition to being a skydiving instructor, Bickford had a private pilot’s license, a drone license and was a member of the US Parachute Association and Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, according to his obituary. “He was the most unique person I have ever known, one who made choice because it was what he wanted, never because it was what someone else wanted or expected and I will envy that part of Brett for the rest of my life.” 
 
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 “You are missed every day, and will be loved forever,” Jason concluded. RELATED: Minnesota Man Survives Near-Death Mauling While Hiking in Remote Wilderness: It ‘Ripped Me Around’ 
 
 According to Skydive St Andrews, tandem jumps are typically done with the student and instructor in separate harnesses. The instructor wears the parachute and controls its deployment during free-fall and landings.
– A skydiving instructor who fell to his death during a tandem jump in Maine in September intentionally loosened his harness in what authorities now say was a suicide. Brett Bickford, an instructor at Skydive New England for 10 years, was doing a tandem jump with a student in Lebanon on Sept. 27 when the 41-year-old fell a mile, landing about 750 feet from the Lebanon Airport runway, while his student landed safely. The head of the US Parachute Association, of which Bickford was a member, later said it was "unheard of" for an instructor to become untied from a tandem system, which includes separate but attached harnesses, per the Portland Press Herald. The association's director of sport promotion says she's since learned Bickford loosened securing straps, including on his legs, after the tandem parachute he wore was opened. "State police interviews with other skydivers and industry officials concluded that no experienced skydiver would loosen a parachute harness by mistake … It was an intentional act," a Maine Department of Public Safety rep tells the Bangor Daily News. He notes no suicide note was left behind, per the Press Herald. Bickford's brother paid tribute to the instructor on Facebook a month after his death, on what would've been his 42nd birthday, per People. "He was the most unique person I have ever known, one who made [a] choice because it was what he wanted, never because it was what someone else wanted or expected and I will envy that part of Brett for the rest of my life," Jason Bickford wrote on Oct. 26. "You are missed every day, and will be loved forever," he added. (An army sergeant tried to kill his wife on a skydiving trip.)