SAN DIEGO A San Diego-based sailor and experienced parachutist died early Thursday from head trauma sustained during a nighttime military freefall training jump in Arizona, Navy officials said Friday. Aircrew Survival Equipmentman 1st Class (EW/AW/FPJ) Andrew J. Lightner was conducting the night jump as the final part of a jumpmaster spotting exercise at Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz., Lt. Frank Magallon, a Naval Special Warfare Group 1 spokesman, said in a news release. Lightner, 25, was a parachute rigger with Naval Special Warfare Logistics Support Unit 1 at Coronado Naval Amphibious Base, Calif., and was attending the Military Free Fall Jumpmaster Course offered by the Fort Bragg, N.C.-based John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School, Magallon said in the release. Officials are investigating the incident and military freefall course trainers “have isolated the equipment and begun documenting the details of the incident,” he added. JFK Special Warfare Center and School officials, in a news release Friday afternoon, said Lightner injured his head while landing and was taken by air ambulance to St. Joseph’s Hospital in Phoenix, where he was pronounced dead. Read the entire NavyTimes article here.
