Members of the U.S. Navy Parachute Team, also known as the Leap Frogs, jump over Coronado, Calif., July 4, 2023. (Austin Breum/U.S. Navy)
A member of the U.S. Navy Parachute Team, also known as the Leap Frogs, was injured during a performance over the weekend in Duluth, Minn., local media reported.
The sailor, who has not been identified, was performing a stunt at the Duluth Air and Aviation Expo, the Duluth News Tribune reported Sunday. Two sailors were attached during the jump; they separated and deployed their parachutes but one “hit the ground hard,” the newspaper reported.
Emergency responders treated the sailor before airlifting him to Essentia Health-St. Mary’s Medical Center in Duluth, where he was “in stable condition and being treated for his injuries,” the Expo said on its Facebook page Sunday.
“We are devastated that one of the performers was injured and our thoughts and prayers are with him, his team and his family,” Expo president Ryan Kern said in the post. “Our safety and leadership team has an incident plan in place, everyone reacted instantly, and we were able to render care immediately.”
The Leap Frogs subsequently canceled their Sunday performance in light of an official investigation, the Expo said in its post, but the air show’s other scheduled events continued as planned.
A Naval Special Warfare Command spokesperson confirmed the incident with the Duluth News Tribune, the paper reported Sunday.
“We appreciate the swift response by the event staff and emergency medical teams on site who provided immediate assistance,” the spokesperson said, according to the News Tribune.
Spokespeople for the Leap Frogs and Naval Special Warfare Command, both headquartered in San Diego, did not respond to an email request for additional information or comment as of midnight Tuesday.
Parachuting has claimed the lives of several sailors in recent years.
A Navy SEAL, Chief Special Warfare Operator Michael Ernst, died Feb. 19 following a free-fall parachute mishap during training in Marana, Ariz.
Petty Officer 1st Class Remington Peters, also a member of the Leap Frogs parachute team, died in May 2017 after his parachute malfunctioned during a performance over Liberty State Park, N.J.
The parachute team is made up of active-duty Navy SEALs, Special Warfare Combatant-craft crewmen and various support personnel, all of whom volunteer for three-year stints with the team before returning to their operational units, according to the group’s website.
