AN experienced skydiving instructor from Mildura who died after his two parachutes failed to open on Friday has been hailed a hero after taking the brunt of the fall in an attempt to minimise injuries to his tandem passenger.

Victorian Police said 35-year-old Arron Toepfer died at the scene of the accident at Torquay when the pair "got into difficulty" and landed in a paddock shortly before 1pm.

Police said the passenger, a man in his 50s, was flown to The Alfred hospital with life-threatening injuries.

Mr Toepfer, who attended Mildura Senior College and had been working at Australian Skydive at Torquay for about six years, was known to have jumped six to 10 times a week.

Former customers remembered Mr Toepfer as "the best" on Sunday.

"Not the news we wanted to hear," one mourner said.

"RIP Arron Toepfer, you were the best.

"You took great care of Natalie on her jump three weeks ago.

"Condolences to your family and your friends at Australian Skydive in Torquay."

The Australian Skydive website says it has been operating at Torquay for more than 10 years with one of the best safety records in Australian Skydiving history.

Sergeant Peter Christo, of Torquay police, told Nine News that paramedics worked on the instructor for about 20 minutes before he took a "downward turn" and died at the scene.

"Unfortunately there was a parachuting incident where a parachute failed to open up," he said.

Sgt Christo said the instructor, who still has family in Mildura, cushioned the blow for the skydiving passenger.

"Once the parachute didn't open, there were emergency attempts made to open up the chute and unfortunately, couldn't open the chute," he said.

"As a result of that, we have a deceased male. I believe the instructor may have cushioned a lot of the blow for the client."

The Australian Parachute Federation, Civil Aviation Safety Authority and WorkSafe are expected to to launch a joint investigation into the tragedy.

Police will prepare a report for the coroner.