A member of the 710th Special Operations Wing of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) died on Thu, Apr 7, during a jump exercise in one of the training activities in the Balikatan 2016 joint military exercise with the United States. The accident happened at around 3:45pm in the vicinity of the Subic airport.
“Capt. Celeste Frank Sayson, public affairs officer for the Philippines in the joint Balikatan exercise, said the victim held the rank of Airman 2nd Class and he was part of a proficiency parachute jump exercise among Filipino and American personnel,” report Julie M. Aurelio in Philippine Daily Inquirer.
The report noted: “Twenty Filipino paratroopers from the 710th SPOW took part, with the Subic Bay International Airport in Zambales as the drop zone. The victim was among the first 10 jumpers who leapt from a Lockheed C-130 Hercules cargo aircraft.”
Sayson explained that the airman “was dragged by strong winds and landed in the water which had a depth of 30 feet.” He added, “The airman was recovered by a pre-positioned protection team from the Philippines and United States at the drop zone after a 15-minute rescue and recovery operation.”
The airman was found at 4:55pm and rescuers attempted to revive him, to no avail.
