A Philippine air force paratrooper who parachuted from a C-130 plane in an exercise with U.S. forces died Thursday after a wind gust blew him out to sea instead of an airport drop zone, officials said.
The Filipino paratrooper from a special air force operations unit was rescued 15 minutes after the accident at the Subic Bay free port, a former U.S. naval base northwest of Manila, but he died later in a hospital, Philippine army spokesman Capt. Celeste Frank Sayson said.
About 3,500 Filipino troops and 5,000 American military personnel are participating in the Balikatan or shoulder-to-shoulder combat exercises that started Monday. The 11-day maneuvers aim to prepare U.S. and Philippine troops to quickly respond to a range of potential crises, including in the disputed South China Sea.
Read More- Military Times
Image courtesy of AP
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