A British paratrooper who jumped off a plane 150,000 feet high crashed through the roof of a California home after his parachute failed to fully deploy. The soldier, who was partaking in a training exercise at the time of the equipment malfunction, miraculously survived – and without serious injuries.
Atascadero police and fire personnel in San Luis Obispo responded to the 9600 block of Via Cielo on July 6 after multiple reports of a parachutist who fell without full chute deployment, the Atascadero Police Department said in a Facebook post. They found the parachutist, who had fallen through the exterior and interior roof of a home.
‘The parachutist was conscious but stunned with complaints of pain but no visible serious injuries,’ the police department wrote. ‘The occupants of the residence were not home at the time and therefore were uninjured.’
An investigation revealed that the parachute failed to fully deploy as the parachutist participated in group training at Camp Roberts. It was the only incident and others in the exercise landed safely in the designated field, according to the police department.
‘We are grateful that the parachutist received only moderate injuries and that no other persons suffered injury,’ the post read.
The soldier wore a British special forces uniform and images showed him attached to his harness in the kitchen with debris and dust around him, according to the Daily Mail. He leapt from a plane for a High Altitude Low Opening (HALO) exercise for convert missions on hostile ground.
‘It’s a miracle in my estimation, really,’ neighbor Rose Martin, who found the paratrooper, told KSBY. ‘I mean, who lands like that without a parachute and lives?’
Martin said she was in shock at the time of the accident.
‘So I ran in to make sure he was OK and I checked on him and his eyes were open but I wasn’t sure if there were any injuries,’ Martin said. ‘I didn’t want anyone to move him.’
The paratrooper was taken to a hospital for minor injuries.
The UK Ministry of Defence told the Daily Mail: ‘There has been a parachuting incident involving a British soldier training alongside American allies in California. The soldier received minor injuries and is recovering well.’
Linda Sallady, who is the mother of the homeowner, said the soldier ‘came through the roof, through the tresses and there’s not that much damage in the house’.
‘It’s amazing. It’s mostly the ceiling, the sheetrock,’ Sallady said. ‘He missed the counters, appliances, everything.’
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