Air Force instructor dies after fall during Alamodome rappelling ceremony before UTSA-Navy game

An Air Force technical sergeant died after falling during a rappelling descent from the Alamodome's roof in San Antonio on Saturday. The descent was part of a pregame ceremony before the University of Texas at San Antonio's football game against Navy, according to KSAT and several ABC News affiliates.

KSAT reported that the Air Force named the airman as Tech. Sgt. Ian Patterson in a Sunday release from Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada. He taught Tactical Air Control Party skills for Detachment 2 of the 6th Combat Training Squadron, which operates out of Joint Base San Antonio. According to KSAT, Patterson came from Fort Stewart, Georgia, had spent 15 years in uniform, and in 2022 received a headquarters-level Air Force award honoring him as its top enlisted special warfare instructor. The base said the fall is being investigated.

The event was part of UTSA's night honoring the armed forces and veterans. Reports differ on the size of the team. KSAT cited witnesses who said three other service members performed with Patterson, while the ABC affiliates reported witnesses describing him as one of three people in the demonstration. The ABC stations said the drop measured about 170 feet.

Adrian Corey, a spectator who filmed the incident, told KSAT: "Once the band started playing, there was a guy that fell down." He said the crowd sensed trouble when the airman's descent suddenly sped up. Attendance topped 23,000, the ABC outlets reported.

Joe Arrington, a San Antonio Fire Department spokesman, told ABC News that crews were dispatched to the stadium at about 7 p.m. and that the airman was hospitalized in life-threatening condition. A Nellis spokesperson said he later died at the hospital, ABC reported.

According to KSAT, UTSA staff formed a circle around the airman as medics worked on him, and Bexar County Commissioner Grant Moody commended students and staff for protecting his privacy.

Brig. Gen. Scott C. Mills, who commands the 57th Wing, said in the base release, "This tragedy is felt deeply across the 57th Wing," KSAT reported. He said the wing is now concentrating on supporting Patterson's relatives and fellow airmen.

Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones posted on social media that she was saddened by the loss, KSAT reported, and UT San Antonio President Taylor Eighmy released a statement expressing sympathy.

The American Conference, whose members include UTSA and Navy, said it is reviewing the incident together with its schools, stadium officials and local authorities, and is arranging support for those affected, according to KSAT. ABC outlets reported that the university is providing wellbeing services and urged student witnesses to call its crisis hotline.

Compiled by True News from reporting by KSAT, ABC7 New York, ABC11 and ABC7 Chicago. Each outlet's original story is linked below.

Originally published by True News: https://truenews.bagleyenterprises.net/stories/241