A service member with an Air Force training unit died Saturday night after falling while rappelling from the rafters at a San Antonio college football game.

A spokesperson for Nellis Air Force Base confirmed that a service member assigned to the 6th Combat Training Squadron, Detachment 2 died from injuries sustained in a fall ahead of the University of Texas San Antonio and Naval Academy game at the Alamodome in San Antonio.

The incident happened during a pregame rappelling demonstration ahead of UTSA’s annual Salute to Armed Forces & Veterans game. Four military members were to rappel from the rafters of the Alamodome to the ground. According to the San Antonio Express-News, halfway through the descent, one person slid down the rope in “an uncontrolled manner” and hit the ground hard. Football staff rushed to the injured man and medical personnel provided first aid before the injured airman was put on a stretcher.

The San Antonio Fire Department told Task & Purpose that it transported a person with life threatening injury to a hospital. The Air Force later confirmed that the airman had died.

“The incident is under investigation. More information will be released as it becomes available,” the Nellis spokesperson said.

The Air Force did not identify the deceased.

Prior to the Air Force’s announcement that the service member died, a spokesperson for UTSA Athletics confirmed that the rappel team was made up of members of 6th Combat Training Squadron, Detachment 2. That is an Air Force unit that trains tactical air controllers. Tactical Air Control Party members are airmen who embed with soldiers and Marines and direct and coordinate airstrikes from ground positions.

The 6th Combat Training Squadron is based out of Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, although Detachment 2 operates from Joint Base San Antonio-Camp Bullis.

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[–] 3 points 3 hours ago
[–] 6 points 6 hours ago*

crab-dance

The airman was part of a pregame demonstration of military skills

lol. lmao.

looked more like a groundman to me


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  • [–] 11 points 8 hours ago*

    Minus one killer working for the Evil Empire.

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  • [–] 6 points 7 hours ago

    This is why you can't rappel with laundry rope while it's on fire.

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  • [–] 45 points 11 hours ago

    catgirl-disgust You can joke, but that man was clearly killed by a Russian.

    spoilercatgirl-happy The ground a-rushin' up to meet him!

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  • [–] 14 points 9 hours ago

    ground involved incident

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  • [–] 10 points 9 hours ago*

    If it had been me, I would have simply not struck the planet Earth at a deadly velocity.

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  • [–] 76 points 13 hours ago (5 children)

    Game went ahead after a 10 minute delay. Gobless da troops 🫡🫡🫡🫡🫡

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  • [–] 26 points 11 hours ago (4 children)

    10 min delay is a little too much respect in my opinion

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  • [–] 12 points 9 hours ago (3 children)

    it's barely enough time to get a new tray of nachos

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  • [–] 24 points 12 hours ago

    The US has the most advanced Air Force on the planet. These soldiers of the future can cause a fatal landing accident and they don't even need a plane!

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  • [–] 34 points 12 hours ago (1 child)

    He died fighting for what he believed in

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  • [–] 19 points 12 hours ago

    Can they do it again?

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  • [–] 49 points 13 hours ago (1 child)

    you know, these military demonstrations, flyovers and flagfuck parades being blanketed over sporting events after 9/11 was meant to gin up the nationalist mythmaking of Our Boys being invicible heroes right before our eyes.

    but it's a dicey proposition to put in stunts, because while entertaining for a few minutes when they go off snoothly, it's extremely damaging to the regime when there's a deadly injury.

    imagine going to the big game and having to console a young kid who just watched that. it invites questions of "why did they even do this? aren't we at war? are Our Boys being directed by competent people? how much does all this shit cost?"

    it ends up being a denonstration for the deadly cost of reckless incompetence and waste.

    like imagine a fighter jet flyover at a bowl game where a plane crashes and takes out dozens of people.

    maybe leadership and the press don't give air to it, but there are more people now asking why the fuck military stunt demonstrations were organized and what it has to do with sports. like somebody ordered/voluntold that guy to do that thing, safety checks failed in some way, and some incompetent cowboy fell to his death right at the heart of the spectacle.

    only the most foolish of hogs will accept that guy died heroically, though im sure the regime and its media will insist on it.

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  • [–] 26 points 12 hours ago (3 children)

    "The Alamodome" sounds like a bit.

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  • [–] 28 points 13 hours ago

    cindy-officer-down The ropes are Hamas.

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  • [–] 28 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago)

    Outside of their medics, that's probably the most prestigious job in the Air Force. You're looking at the cream of the crop. I grow pretty flowers for a living and I can slide down a rope without dying, so what does that say about me? If anything that's the real takeaway from this tragedy- if it had been me you'd just see a cool-ass dude making it look easy because it is.

    edit: And I'd do hella tricks because just going down is so easy it's boring.

    edit: and karate chop a dude at the bottom, like full fuckin double neck chop with a spin-flip.

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  • [–] 31 points 13 hours ago

    That's kinda fucked up, but now he won't finish his specific training in how to aim airstrikes at children.

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  • [–] 14 points 12 hours ago

    Butthole Surfer's 'Jet Fighter' plays

    rat-salute

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    [–] [S] 21 points 14 hours ago (8 children)
  • [–] 14 points 14 hours ago