Paratrooper dies after mid-air collision at Jervis Bay – the second training death in two years | Australian military
An army soldier died during parachute training at Jervis Bay airfield, the defense has announced.
Special Air Service Regiment adjutant Lachlan Muddle, 50, died on Monday evening after a mid-air collision with another paratrooper after their parachutes opened.
The collision occurred several hundred meters above the ground in low-light conditions, Maj. Gen. Garth Gould told reporters Tuesday.
Gould said both skydivers were highly experienced and had thousands of jumps between them. They were wearing night vision goggles at the time.
“What we know about the incident indicates that both parachutists collided several hundred meters above the ground while maneuvering towards the drop zone,” Gould said. “After the collision, both soldiers fell from a height.”
The second soldier involved, a sergeant from the Australian Defense Force parachute school, survived the fall with minor injuries and provided emergency first aid to Muddle. He did not need to be hospitalized and was recovering.
Muddle joined the army in 1994 and has served in Special Operations Command, primarily the SASR, since 2007. He was a highly qualified special forces sniper and military freelance paratrooper with extensive operational experience.
The training was part of a six-week block of advanced military freefall training, Gould said. On Monday evening, the soldiers were jumping from a civilian commercial aircraft chartered by the military.
In response to Muddle’s death, the ADF has paused all personnel parachuting operations nationwide until the investigation is completed.
Mark Butler, a leading figure in the federal government, said Monday’s death was “a profound tragedy.”
ADF soldier Jack Fitzgibbon, son of former Labor defense minister Joel Fitzgibbon, died during a parachute incident during a routine training activity in Sydney in early 2024.
The 33-year-old man was injured in March 2024 at the RAAF air base at Richmond, about 50km northwest of the Sydney CBD. The person, who received first aid at the scene and was taken to Westmead hospital in a serious condition, later died from his injuries.
Parachute training was suspended for two months and investigations were launched by the NSW coroner and the Inspector General of the Australian Defense Force.
An army soldier was killed and two others injured in a training accident in northern Queensland in October 2025.
This soldier was fatally injured when a vehicle rolled over at the Townsville Field Training Area.
In August 2021, two soldiers were also killed when a truck overturned south of Townsville.
Ministry of Defense accused in September 2023, in violation of federal occupational health and safety laws related to the 2021 incident.
