SAS soldier killed during parachute training exercise | ABC NEWS

A highly-skilled Australian Army paratrooper has died during a training exercise at the Jervis Bay Airfield on the New South Wales South Coast.

Warrant Officer Second Class Lachlan Muddle, 50, from the special air service regiment, was killed when he fell to the ground after a mid-air collision with another paratrooper last night.

Australian Army Special Operations Commander Major General Garth Gould said Warrant Officer Muddle had been assisting a specialist parachute training activity.

“After successfully opening their parachutes, what we know about the incident is that both paratroopers collided several hundred feet above the ground whilst they were manoeuvring towards the drop zone,” he said.

“After the collision, both soldiers fell from height.”

The other paratrooper, a sergeant from the Australian Defence Force Parachute School, survived the fall with minor injuries.

“Both paratroopers were highly skilled. Between the two of them, they had several thousand jumps to their credit,” Major General Gould said.

Warrant Officer Muddle’s death is the second parachute-related death in as many years.

In 2024, Lance Corporal Jack Fitzgibbon died after being injured in a parachuting incident at Sydney’s Richmond RAAF base.

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