SAN ANTONIO — The rappelling demonstration was supposed to be the salute. Instead a member of the U.S. Air Force fell from the rafters of the Alamodome on Saturday night, before UTSA hosted Navy, and later died at a hospital.
Nellis Air Force Base Public Affairs confirmed Sunday that a service member assigned to the 6th Combat Training Squadron, Detachment 2, died at a local hospital after falling during the pregame demonstration. His name has not been released. The night was UTSA’s annual Salute to Armed Forces and Veterans game, and UTSA Athletics had set kickoff for 7 p.m.
How a display meant to show off military skill went wrong is the part nobody has explained. In the statements reported so far, neither the Air Force nor the university says what failed.
Accounts differ on small points. Yahoo Sports called him an Air Force officer and, describing videos of the fall, said he began his descent higher than the hanging scoreboard. CBS Sports called him a service member and cited the San Antonio Express-News for the account that one of four service members slipped down the rope “in an uncontrolled manner” and crashed to the ground.
In videos of the fall, Yahoo Sports noted, the crowd let out an audible sound when he hit the turf. The start of the game was delayed, and CBS Sports reported that UTSA coach Jeff Traylor kept his team in the locker room while the airman was treated. Traylor said all he knew was that “there had been an incident, and the game was going to be delayed.” Of the crowd, he said the players “could just tell the energy was gone.”
UTSA won 38-34 before 23,297 fans, CBS Sports reported. The written recap on UTSA Athletics follows A’Marion Peterson’s 41-yard go-ahead touchdown catch in the final minutes without mentioning the fall.
The University of Texas at San Antonio said in a statement that it was “deeply saddened by the incident,” according to Yahoo Sports, and the American Conference said it would “coordinate any further updates with the appropriate authorities.”
Four service members were scheduled to go down the rope, by the Express-News account. Why one of them did not reach the field safely is still an open question.
