Army parachutists remain hospitalized after accident over Homestead base
Two of the three U.S. Army soldiers injured in a parachuting accident over Homestead last month remain in the hospital.
One of the soldiers is in critical condition and the other in serious, said Lisa M. Ferguson, spokeswoman for the Army’s Recruiting Command. Both remain at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami.
The other soldier was released from the hospital a few days after the Feb. 12 accident. The Army has not named any of the soldiers, and the incident remains under investigation.
They are members of the service’s Golden Knights parachute demonstration team, which is based at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville, North Carolina, but spends the winter months at Homestead Air Reserve Base. They were practicing night operations around 4 a.m. when something went wrong.
The team routinely makes free-fall jumps from 13,000 feet and higher. They are part of Recruiting Command and perform at high-profile events throughout the year, such as professional sporting events, college bowl games, parades and air shows.
They are perhaps most well-known for taking former President George H.W. Bush on several tandem free-fall jumps starting when he was 75.
The Golden Knights were kept on the ground for about a week after the accident, but resumed training Feb. 18.
The team of about 100 soldiers is scheduled to host joint training with other parachute groups at the Homestead base on March 12. The other teams include the Army Special Forces’ Black Daggers, the British Army’s Red Devils, the U.S. Navy’s Leap Frogs and the West Point Parachute Team, according to an Army press release issued Friday.
This story was originally published March 1, 2019 at 2:59 PM.
