Army Paratrooper Killed During Training Accident

A well-trained Australian Army soldier has died during a parachuting exercise at Jervis Bay Airfield on the New South Wales South Coast.

Warrant Officer Second Class Lachlan Muddle, 50, from the Special Air Service Regiment, was killed after a mid-air collision with another paratrooper on May 11.

The Defence Department confirmed the incident occurred during a training course, with another soldier injured but not requiring hospitalisation.

“We request that the privacy of Defence members and families is respected at this time,” a Defence spokesperson said in a statement on May 12.

Australian Army Special Operations Commander Major General Garth Gould said both soldiers had successfully deployed their parachutes before the incident.

“What we know about the incident is that both paratroopers collided several hundred feet above the ground whilst they were manoeuvring towards the drop zone,” he told reporters in a briefing.

“After the collision, both soldiers fell from height.”

“One soldier, a sergeant from the Australian Defence Force parachute school, survived the fall with minor injuries. The second soldier, Warrant Officer Lachlan Muddle, received fatal injuries as a result of the fall.”

Gould noted that both paratroopers were highly experienced, with each having completed several thousand jumps.

Muddle joined the Army in 1994 and moved to Special Operations Command in 2007, where he served most of his career with the Special Air Service Regiment.

He was an experienced operator, a qualified Special Forces sniper, and a military free-fall parachutist.

“He was highly regarded within our community, skilled professional and he’ll be remembered for his sense of humour and his genuine and deep commitment to serving the nation, serving an army and serving in the Special Air Service regiment,” Gould said.

“In a tight knit community like ours, his loss has been very deeply and immediately felt.”

Operations Paused After Incident

The Australian Defence Force has paused all personnel parachuting operations pending an investigation.

The incident is the second in recent years. In 2024, Lance Corporal Jack Fitzgibbon died after being injured in a parachuting accident at the Richmond RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force) Base in Sydney.

Gould said he believed the army’s current safety systems remain robust.

“I do believe they are up to scratch and fit for purpose. I’ve got a high degree of confidence in our training system,” he said.

Referring to the 2024 case, Gould said it involved a single paratrooper and had been examined through multiple inquiries.

“Since then, we have undertaken a very thorough review of our parachuting system,” he said.

“We’ve implemented an independent safety board in that intervening time. That board has reported to the chief of army on a number of occasions already, and I am very confident in the safety system as a whole around our parachuting.”