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The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the fatality of a parachuting trainer following he became separated from his student during a jump in Nashville, Tennessee.

Authorities say instructor Justin Fuller "appears to have dropped from the sky without a parachute" during the dive on the weekend.

Fuller, 35 years old, seems to have separated from his client and a dual harness, which connects the two during a jump and contains the parachute.

A law enforcement aircraft found the instructor's remains in a wooded area hours later. Local emergency crews used several ladders to reach the 46-year old student who lived through the fall after being trapped on a tree for hours with the emergency parachute.

Officials said three other dives, which occurred near a local airport, were carried out without incident before the fatal fall. The plane from which they leaped also touched down without issue.

It is unclear how the instructor, an seasoned parachutist, got detached from the safety equipment.

A individual who assisted fire crews in the rescue told a media outlet the client who officials saved said "it was his first jump, and it was going to be his final one".

The instructor had previously posted about his enthusiasm for teaching others how to skydive.

"Teaching people to skydive has always been in my view the most satisfying job at the jump site," Mr Fuller said in an social media update in June.

"Observing students learn the skills and begin maneuvering their selves is always a touching experience. Occasionally though, it can become quite chaotic up there when you release a student for their first time."

During that period he shared photos of the damage a jump aircraft he was on saying the plane's engine had malfunctioned after take off. Every individual onboard lived through the incident.