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A member of the U.S. Air Force was injured and later died after he fell while rappelling from the ceiling of the Alamodome stadium in San Antonio, Texas, on Saturday, ahead of a University of Texas at San Antonio football game.
The incident took place during a pregame ceremony, before the official kickoff of UTSA’s annual Salute to Armed Forces and Veterans game against Navy, CBS affiliate KENS reported. The service member landed near the middle of the field after falling, a KENS photographer said.
Nellis Air Force Base Public Affairs issued a statement saying that the service member — assigned to the 6th Combat Training Squadron, Detachment 2 — was injured at the stadium and died at a local hospital. CBS News has reached out to Nellis AFB for additional comment.
The man, whose identity was not immediately released, was one of four military service members who were scheduled to participate in a rappelling demonstration before Saturday’s game. According to an Air Force website, they were part of a team of specialists who embed with Army and Marine units and help to direct air and artillery strikes from forward ground locations.
Part of their training includes learning to rapidly drop by rope, sometimes from helicopters that are 100 feet or more above the ground.
A video of the fall that was posted on social media showed the man, in combat fatigues, quickly descending to the ground feet first. The fall occurred with fans in the stands and a band assembled nearby on the field. He was treated on the field for several minutes and taken away on a gurney.
The incident is under investigation.
The game, between the UTSA Roadrunners and Navy Midshipmen, still took place on Saturday. Afterward, the university issued a statement saying it was “deeply saddened by the incident that occurred at the start of tonight’s football game.”
“Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with the soldier who was affected, his family and his military colleagues,” the statement said. “We recognize that members of our campus community may be emotionally affected by this incident and are activating wellbeing services to support our faculty, staff and students.”
After the game, which UTSA won 38-34, UTSA Coach Jeff Traylor told reporters that the accident was “heartbreaking” and “tragic.”
He said the team could see the effect that it had on the crowd of over 23,000 people as soon as players arrived on the field for the game, although Traylor had only been told there had been an “incident” that would delay the start of the game by about 10 minutes.
“You could tell the energy was just gone,” he said. “It just really puts things in perspective. It really does.”
