Breathtaking video shows a US Army paratrooper plummeting through the air for 15 seconds after the parachute failed during a jump over Italy, with the reserve inflating seconds before its landing
- The incident, which happened from an Air Force C-130 transport plane flying over Italy, was thankfully not fatal
- The unidentified soldier’s stash swelled seconds before he hit the ground
- The clip was taken in what is called the Juliet Drop Zone in Italy, which is used by the army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade.
- The video originated on TikTok, lasting 22 seconds as the skydiver’s parachute fails to open and he becomes desperate as he hurtles towards the ground
Breathtaking video showed a US Army paratrooper plummeting through the sky for at least 15 seconds after his parachute failed.
The incident, which occurred from an Air Force C-130 transport plane flying over Italy, was fortunately not fatal, as the unidentified soldier’s reserve is inflated right after landing, allowing him to avoid serious injury or death with seconds to spare.
The clip was shot in what’s called the Juliet Drop Zone in Italy, which is used by the Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade, according to Task & Purpose.
The video was uploaded to TikTok and lasted just 22 seconds as the skydiver’s main chute fails to open and he becomes desperate as he hurtles towards the ground.
Luckily, his reserve opens just a second before he faces impact and he seemingly walks away safely.
Breathtaking video showed a US Army paratrooper plummeting through the sky for at least 15 seconds after his parachute failed
The incident, which occurred from an Air Force C-130 transport plane flying over Italy, was fortunately not fatal as the reserve of the unidentified soldier inflated seconds before it hits the ground.
The clip was taken in what is called the Juliet Drop Zone in Italy, which is used by the army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade.
The U.S. Army and 173rd Airborne have not reported any recent incidents of serious injury or such incidents. It’s unclear who took the video, although it has gone viral on both Twitter and TikTok
The U.S. Army and 173rd Airborne have reported no recent incidents of serious injuries or such incidents. It’s unclear who took the video, although it has gone viral on Twitter and TikTok.
Army jumpers are taught in training that they are supposed to open reserve parachutes six seconds after realizing the main parachute will not open.
St. Maj. Jeffrey Mellinger, a former Army freefall instructor, told Task & Purpose, “That reserve parachute takes about 400 feet to open, so that’s a pretty significant amount of time when you come to the ground as fast as that person was in. There’s a reason they call this duty dangerous.
The jumper also did not have enough air to open his reserve parachute until the very last moment.
The U.S. Army and 173rd Airborne have not reported any recent incidents of serious injury or such incidents. It’s unclear who took the video, although it has gone viral on both Twitter and TikTok
Army jumpers learn in training that they’re supposed to open reserve parachutes six seconds after realizing the main chute won’t open
Jumps like this are rare, according to Mellinger, because the military takes so many precautions to avoid moments like the one in the video.
He noted that individual dysfunction is “not uncommon but it’s unusual, it’s really unusual.”
He also pointed out that thousands of people take courses like this every year and don’t perform except in scary and sporadic cases like the one in the video, which has nearly 90,000 likes on TikTok.
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