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Soldier miraculously survives 16,000ft fall from aircraft after parachute fails to deploy during training

Salman Krisnes was among the Indonesian army's elite Kopasgat and was participating in a training exercise

JAKARTA, INDONESIA: In a seemingly miraculous incident, a paratrooper survived a 1,600ft fall when his parachute failed to deploy after he jumped out of an aircraft during a training exercise.

The incident took place on November 8, around 10.30 am, when Salman Krisnes, a member of the country's Quick Reaction Forces Command, jumped from the plane as part of the training exercise at Sulaiman Air Base, east of the capital Jakarta.

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As per Daily Mail, a viral video captured Krisnes jumping from a Hercules C-130 aircraft along with other paratroopers. While other troops’ parachutes deployed successfully, his parachute got stuck due to some technical issues. The soldier made a speedy descent toward the ground and crashed on land.

The Indonesian Air Force reportedly said that Krisnes managed to survive the fatal fall with just a hip fracture and was now recovering in the Indonesian Air Force Hospital at Salamun Bandung.

Colonel Gunawan, the spokesman for the Quick Reaction Forces, according to Daily Mail, said, "One of the soldiers had an accident and was unable to control his parachute perfectly because several ropes were tangled when he jumped from the plane. Due to this incident, the soldier suffered a fracture to his right hip and has received medical expert assistance. He was referred to the Indonesian Air Force Hospital Salamun Bandung. Currently, his condition is stable and he is being referred for further treatment."

For the unversed, Indonesia's Quick Reaction Forces Command, also known as Kopasgat, are an elite special force unit of the Indonesian Air Force, which is often tasked with anti-terrorism operations. Kopasgat is also tasked with seizing and defending airfields, responding to aircraft hijackings, intelligence operations and parachuting into battle. The unit is also referred to as 'orange berets' because of the color of their headgear.

In an eerily similar incident in 2021, a British soldier survived a 15,000ft fall after crashing onto someone’s roof when his parachute failed to fully deploy. The parachutist was taking part in a training exercise on July 6 in California when he jumped out of a plane in a High Altitude Low Opening exercise known as Halo.

During the exercise, the soldier lost control of his movements when his parachute failed to open properly. “I was in shock. I’m like, what?” the homeowner's neighbor, Rose Martin, told Standard UK. “So I ran in to make sure he was okay and I checked on him and his eyes were open but I wasn’t sure if there were any injuries. I didn’t want anyone to move him," she added.