Air Force member killed rappelling from Alamodome’s ceiling in Salute to Armed Forces ceremony

SAN ANTONIO, Texas — An Air Force member has died from injuries he suffered on Saturday while rappelling from the ceiling of the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, as part of a college football pre-game ceremony honoring the Armed Forces and military veterans, authorities said.

The incident occurred just before kickoff between Navy and the University of Texas at San Antonio.

“Once the band started playing, there was a guy that fell down,” witness Adrian Corey, one of more than 23,000 people who attended the game, told San Antonio affiliate station KSAT.

Witnesses said the airman was one of three service members conducting a rappelling demonstration from the Alamodome’s ceiling, a drop of about 170 feet.

Corey, who recorded the incident on his cellphone, said he and other spectators noticed something was wrong when the airman, whose name has not been released, “started coming down fast.”

San Antonio Fire Department spokesman Joe Arrington told News that firefighters responded to the Alamodome around 7 p.m. local time after getting a call about someone falling during a pre-game event. Arrington said the individual was taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries.

The airman was later pronounced dead at the hospital, a spokesperson for the Nellis Air Force Base, where the airman was stationed, said in a statement.

The airman who died was assigned to the 6th Combat Training Squadron, Detachment 2, according to a base spokesperson. Nellis Air Force Base is located in Nevada.

A spokesperson for the University of Texas at San Antonio said in a statement to ESPN that students who witnessed the incident are encouraged to contact the university’s crisis hotline.

“Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with the soldier who was affected, his family and his military colleagues,” the UTSA spokesperson 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.”

News’ Chris Barry and Matthew Acosta contributed to this report.