Horrible moment Sri Lankan paratroopers spin out of control and crash – but somehow survive – after parachutes become tangled in mid-air during chaotic demonstration rehearsal
This is the horrific moment Sri Lankan paratroopers crashed after becoming tangled in mid-air during a disorderly demonstration rehearsal.
Footage shows the collision of two paratroopers who became entangled in each other’s parachutes before falling back to earth at high speed near Galle Face Green, in the heart of Sri Lanka’s capital Colombo, on January 30.
One of the paratroopers appears to be stuck on another’s harness as the pair make a hard crash landing on the roof of a building as onlookers at the Independence Day rehearsal gasp in shock.
On the same day, two different paratroopers also became entangled in mid-air, with one of them coming loose dangerously low – before even opening his parachute. You see him hitting the ground hard as his shocked colleagues rush to his aid.
The injured parachutist rolls onto his side and gets on all fours before his colleagues roll him back onto his back and begin to release him from the harness.
Footage shows the collision of the two paratroopers who became entangled in each other’s parachutes before falling back to earth at speed near Galle Face Green, in the heart of the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, on January 30.
Four paratroopers from the Sri Lankan Air Force and Army were rehearsing for the country’s Independence Day
One of the paratroopers appears to be stuck on another’s harness as the pair make a hard crash landing on the roof of a building as onlookers at the Independence Day rehearsal gasp in shock
Local media reported that none of the paratroopers were seriously injured and all were treated at the Sri Lanka National Hospital and the Army Hospital in Colombo.
Sri Lanka Air Force spokesperson Captain Dushan Wijesinghe told local media that two of the injured paratroopers were part of the air force while the other two were soldiers in the army.
The spokesperson said the incident occurred due to a sudden change in wind direction.
It comes after Sergeant Major of the British Army’s world-famous Red Devils parachute team died following an unplanned stunt at 3,000 feet, an inquest heard last month.
Sergeant Dean Walton, 36, became entangled in his own parachute and that of another jumper, causing the fatal accident.
The attempted ‘canopy stack’ apparently came as a surprise to Sergeant Walton’s partner, Nimsdai Purja, who survived by pulling his reserve parachute.
On the same day, two different paratroopers also became entangled in mid-air, with one of them coming loose dangerously low – before even opening his parachute. You see him hitting the ground hard as his shocked colleagues rush to his aid
The injured parachutist rolls onto his side and gets on all fours before his colleagues roll him back onto his back and begin to release him from the harness
Mr Purja waited three seconds β which he said felt like a lifetime β before he managed to reach an emergency exit above the jump site in Seville, Spain.
He was found crying next to the body of Sergeant Walton, who suffered fatal wounds to his chest, spine and head on October 14 last year.
In December last year, a coroner viewed video footage that showed Sergeant Walton approaching Mr Purja in the air.
Sergeant Walton then tried to stand on Mr Purja’s canopy, causing it to collapse. Sergeant Walton then lost his balance and became entangled.
Mr Purja told the hearing in Winchester: ‘My assessment was that we are losing altitude very quickly, we are going to go into a spin and if we don’t do something about it we are going to die. I waited a while for him to take action, we couldn’t solve it and we hit (closer to) the ground, so I operated the reserve. I had no choice.
“The brutal reality is that he was my instructor and he should never have been on my canopy, I could have died too.”
Sergeant Walton, a married Afghanistan veteran, had performed around the world with the Army’s Official Parachute Show Team, founded in 1964, including celebrations to mark the England men’s football team playing in the Euro 2020 Championship.
Sergeant Walton and Mr Purja, a celebrated Nepalese mountaineer and former Special Forces soldier, were planning to set up a skydiving business when the tragedy occurred. They practiced various maneuvers that day.
Mr Purja paid tribute to his friend: βDean was someone who lit up a room and was an excellent colleague and husband. He was someone who served with great pride in the Parachute Regiment.β
It comes after Sergeant Dean Walton (pictured) of the British Army’s world-famous Red Devils parachute team died following an unplanned stunt at 3,000 feet, an inquest heard last month.
Paratroopers from the Brazilian army land in the middle of the street in Rio de Janeiro
A year earlier, at least two paratroopers were injured after their practice jumps went wrong ahead of Brazil’s bicentennial celebrations.
Surveillance camera footage showed the moment Izaquiel Luiz, 35, hit the sidewalk in Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana neighborhood in September 2022.
A second soldier, Roberto Pereira, 40, fell to the roof of a house near Ipanema.
Additional video showed a paratrooper suddenly landing in the middle of the street, while another paratrooper dangled from a tree before firefighters could free him.
The paratroopers are part of the Brazilian army and air force free-jumping teams and were planning to land along Copacabana Beach before strong gusts of wind disrupted their landing, the Eastern Military Command said.