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Ken Foxe, Sunday Tribune
A member of the elite Army Ranger Wing narrowly escaped serious injury after his parachute malfunctioned 1,000ft above his army base.
The solider was forced to cut his 20kg backpack off as he spiralled out of control in the mid-air drama last week.
After getting himself free of the heavy backpack, it then plummeted towards the ground and smashed through the roof of the Army Ranger Headquarters in the Curragh Camp in Co Kildare.
Meanwhile, the elite solider activated his reserve chute and managed to make a crash landing on top of another military building.
Other soldiers on duty were able to free him after he became entangled in the parachute's lines but he miraculously managed to escape without a scratch.
The soldier was examined by a doctor on duty who decided there was no reason to bring him to hospital for further examination.
Army sources said the man's life had only been saved because of his quick thinking and the extensive training that rangers undergo.
The source said: "The weight of the pack was pulling him around in circles as he came down, which would have been absolutely terrifying for any ordinary person.
"He is lucky he was able to get his arms free to cut off the pack as there was a possibility they could have been pinned back by the force of descending that fast.
"He was supposed to land a kilometre-and-a-half away in a totally different part of the Curragh and it is just pure bad luck that his pack went through the roof of the Ranger HQ.
"People were joking that he had bombed his own base but in truth, everybody was just delighted to see him walk away unharmed.
"Only for the fact that he didn't panic and knew exactly what to do, this could have ended in disaster."
The jump had taken place in poor weather conditions and it is unclear what caused the malfunction in the soldier's parachute.
The jumps are part of the routine training of the Army Rangers, who are considered the most highly trained of all Irish soldiers.
I robbed this off another site when I read it.... It'd be put to better use here