Narrow escape for quick-thinking army ranger

cpstears

Ken Foxe Sunday Tribune

A MEMBER of the elite Army Ranger Wing narrowly escaped serious injury after his parachute malfunctioned 1,000ft above his army base.

The solider was forced to cut his 20kg backpack off as he spiralled out of control in the mid-air drama last week.

After getting himself free of the heavy backpack, it then plummet*ed towards the ground and smashed through the roof of the army ranger headquarters in the Curragh Camp in Co Kildare.

Meanwhile, the elite solider activated his reserve chute and managed to make a crash landing on top of another military building.

Other soldiers on duty were able to free him after he became entangled in the parachute's lines but he miraculously managed to escape without a scratch.

The soldier was examined by a doctor on duty who decided there was no reason to bring him to hospital for further examination.

Army sources said the man's life had only been saved because of his quick thinking and the extensive training that rangers undergo.

The source said: "The weight of the pack was pulling him around in circles as he came down, which would have been absolutely terrifying for any ordinary person.

"He is lucky he was able to get his arms free to cut off the pack as there was a possibility they could have been pinned back by the force of descending that fast.

"He was supposed to land a kilometre-and-a-half away in a totally different part of the Curragh and it is just pure bad luck that his pack went through the roof of the ranger HQ.

"People were joking that he had bombed his own base but in truth, everybody was just delighted to see him walk away unharmed.

"Only for the fact that he didn't panic and knew exactly what to do, this could have ended in disaster."

The jump had taken place in poor weather conditions and it is unclear what caused the malfunction in the soldier's parachute.

The jumps are part of the routine training of the army rangers, who are considered the most highly trained of all Irish soldiers.

arybvtcw0eolkf

I bet he's down in the CQ stores looking for a new pair of jocks this morning!.

concussion

Maybe not - there might be a CQ looking for him to fix the hole in the roof

You gotta love the Sunday Tribune though - 20 kg = heavy backpack

meathstevie

Sounds like he was paying full attention during his jump classes allright. Fair play to the guy for keeping a cool head.

DublinDes

cpstears wrote: »

Ken Foxe Sunday Tribune

A MEMBER of the elite Army Ranger Wing narrowly escaped serious injury after his parachute malfunctioned 1,000ft above his army base.

The solider was forced to cut his 20kg backpack off as he spiralled out of control in the mid-air drama last week.

After getting himself free of the heavy backpack, it then plummet*ed towards the ground and smashed through the roof of the army ranger headquarters in the Curragh Camp in Co Kildare.

Meanwhile, the elite solider activated his reserve chute and managed to make a crash landing on top of another military building.

Other soldiers on duty were able to free him after he became entangled in the parachute's lines but he miraculously managed to escape without a scratch.

The soldier was examined by a doctor on duty who decided there was no reason to bring him to hospital for further examination.

Army sources said the man's life had only been saved because of his quick thinking and the extensive training that rangers undergo.

The source said: "The weight of the pack was pulling him around in circles as he came down, which would have been absolutely terrifying for any ordinary person.

"He is lucky he was able to get his arms free to cut off the pack as there was a possibility they could have been pinned back by the force of descending that fast.

"He was supposed to land a kilometre-and-a-half away in a totally different part of the Curragh and it is just pure bad luck that his pack went through the roof of the ranger HQ.

"People were joking that he had bombed his own base but in truth, everybody was just delighted to see him walk away unharmed.

"Only for the fact that he didn't panic and knew exactly what to do, this could have ended in disaster."

The jump had taken place in poor weather conditions and it is unclear what caused the malfunction in the soldier's parachute.

The jumps are part of the routine training of the army rangers, who are considered the most highly trained of all Irish soldiers.

Hell of an escape, have to give him his credit for keeping his nerve.

Manic Moran

I fail to see how different his actions and training were from anyone who went through airborne school and paid attention in class. Fair play to him for doing the right thing in time of stress, but I don't think that really warrants all the 'elite' comments.

NTM

arybvtcw0eolkf

Manic Moran wrote: »

I fail to see how different his actions and training were from anyone who went through airborne school and paid attention in class. Fair play to him for doing the right thing in time of stress, but I don't think that really warrants all the 'elite' comments.

NTM

In the Irish Defence Forces we consider anyone to get better than grade II in the LIFE tests (fitness test done yearly) 'elite'

meathstevie

Manic Moran wrote: »

I fail to see how different his actions and training were from anyone who went through airborne school and paid attention in class. Fair play to him for doing the right thing in time of stress, but I don't think that really warrants all the 'elite' comments.

NTM

Standard airborne training and procedure allright. If the main chute doesn't work and you have the time to dump some weight when you have to rely on your reserve chute to get you on the ground in one piece by all means dump it.

Fratton Fred

good he's ok etc, but if one of my mates had a near death experience like that and came through ok, he'd get the slagging of his life

sunnyjim

Fair enough, he cut off the excess weight - you'd just wanna make sure you didn't cut off the wrong straps though

Victor

Surely at terminal speed, cutting off the pack doesn't do much and deploying the reserve parachute is more important?

Something similar happened a cousin - chute didn't open properly and he was lucky to have a 'soft' (that is really hard) landing in a corn field.

meathstevie

You might be surprised with the difference in falling speed with or without the bag on the reserve chute.