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What was supposed to be a fun, relaxing day at Lane Stadium for Virginia Tech‘s annual football spring game turned scary over the weekend when a parachutist went thudding into the stadium scoreboard prior to kick.
The man, who was carrying a large American flag over the stadium at the time, was left dangling several stories above the ground, and the game had to be delayed so that fire rescue crews could retrieve him from the scoreboard.
Videos from the incident showed that he seemingly tried to fly over the scoreboard, which is not attached to the stadium. However, he misjudged his landing and slammed directly into it instead, causing multiple injuries.
Now, he’s telling his side of the story, and we’ve learned that things could have been much, much worse.
Virginia Tech Parachutists Escapes Scoreboard Collision With Minor Injuries
On Monday, the parachutist, who identified himself as Pasha Palanker, said that wind gusts up to 27 knots, nearly double the predicted safety limit of 14, caused him to wind up off course.
“The impact knocked the air out of me,” he wrote on Instagram. “For a second… nothing. No sound. No breath. Just me… hanging from the jumbotron.
“Then it hit me. I looked down. Long way down. And the same wind that slammed me into that structure… could take me off it just as fast.
I’ve been here before. Moments where the outcome isn’t guaranteed. Combat teaches you something,
not how to be fearless… but how to function anyway.
So I went to work. No panic. I released the flag immediately. Didn’t want it catching wind and pulling me off. Then I focused on the canopy, keeping it from inflating with every gust. Stay still. Stay controlled. Wait.
My shoulder, back, ribs… all lit up. Didn’t matter. Pain is noise.”
While the physical pain wasn’t too bad, Palanker, a former U.S. Army Special Operations member, said he was worried about how things would look to the thousands of fans in the stands and people watching at home.
“But this wasn’t happening in private. Thousands watching. I knew there would be opinions, concern, prayers.
I even thought-Is this it for my jumping career?
Then the question: What’s the purpose behind this? Because I’ve learned that moments like this don’t show up by accident. For those asking what happened. We train as a team to mitigate risk and prioritize safety. Forecast winds were around 7 knots… 4–5 at exit.
What we got were two unpredicted wind shears up to 27 knots, well beyond our 14-knot limit. Had that shown up earlier, we would have aborted. No question.
Once under canopy, I was pushed off the field. So I made a decision, turn away from the crowd. Because the alternative risked hurting others. As I adjusted, another gust hit.
It grabbed the flag. It grabbed the canopy. And drove me into the jumbotron. Not the plan.
But the mission changed:
Stay alive. Stay in control. Get through it. And I did. I’m here. Banged up, but here.
Grateful for the first responders.Grateful for the support.
Because the hardest moments in life don’t break you-They forge you.”
What a legend. Obviously, the jump went nothing like how Palanker or Virginia Tech planned. But his response not only saved himself, but also kept others from harm. Talk about turning a negative into a positive.