A British soldier crashed through the roof of a home in Southern California last week after his parachute failed to fully deploy during a training exercise.
According to the Atascadero Police Department (APD), on July 6 just before 5 p.m., Atascadero Emergency Dispatch received several reports of the accident in the 9500 block of Via Cielo. Officers were able to locate the soldier “who had fallen through the exterior and interior roof of a residence.”
“Imagine sitting at a home & a parachutist crashes through the roof,” one Twitter user wrote, sharing an image of the parachutist still on the ground following the crash. “Rumour is that this is a British #SAS trooper on exercise in California. Hope they made him a cuppa.”
“The parachutist was conscious but stunned with complaints of pain but no visible serious injuries,” the department’s statement read. “The occupants of the residence were not home at the time and therefore were uninjured.”
Investigators found the soldier’s parachute failed to fully deploy during “maneuvers by a group training at Camp Roberts.” All other troops who participated in the jump safely landed in the designated field and no other incidents were reported.
The New York Post posted on Twitter an image of the accident from above, showing the half-open parachute sitting just outside the crash site on the roof.
“We are grateful that the parachutist received only moderate injuries and that no other persons suffered injury,” the APD’s statement concluded.
Prior to the crash landing, several locals watched the soldier spiraling out of control in mid-air, KSBY reported.
“I was in shock. I’m like, what?” said neighbor Rose Martin, a nurse who was alerted of the accident by another neighbor. “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.”
“It’s a miracle in my estimation, really. I mean, who lands like that without a parachute and lives?” Martin added. The Independent reported that the parachutist had jumped out of a plane at 15,000 feet.
The homeowner’s mother, Linda Sallady, said she was stunned that the crash landing didn’t cause more damage to the house.
“Came through the roof, through the tresses and there’s not that much damage in the house,” Sallady said. “It’s amazing. It’s mostly the ceiling, the sheetrock. He missed the counters, appliances, everything.”
