Air Force instructor dies after fall during Alamodome rappelling demonstration
Air Force instructor Tech Sgt Ian Patterson died after falling while rappelling from the Alamodome roof before UTSA’s Salute to Armed Forces & Veterans game against Navy. An investigation is under way.
- Tech Sgt Ian Patterson died after falling while rappelling from the Alamodome roof before kickoff.
- The UTSA-Navy game proceeded after a 10-minute delay, before his condition was publicly confirmed.
- Nellis Air Force Base says the incident is under investigation; UTSA has activated well-being services.
An Air Force instructor has died after falling while rappelling from the roof of San Antonio’s Alamodome during a pregame demonstration before the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) played Navy on Saturday, 17 October 2026.
Nellis Air Force Base identified the service member as Technical Sergeant (Tech Sgt) Ian Patterson, a Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) instructor assigned to the 6th Combat Training Squadron, Detachment 2.
According to a statement from Nellis Air Force Base Public Affairs, Tech Sgt Patterson was injured at the stadium and later died at a local hospital. The incident is under investigation.
Tech Sgt Patterson, from Fort Stewart, Georgia, had served in the Air Force for 15 years. In 2022, he was named Air Force Special Warfare Enlisted Instructor of the Year at the Headquarters Air Force level.
Nellis Air Force Base, where he was stationed, is located in Nevada.
How the demonstration unfolded
The demonstration formed part of a pregame ceremony for UTSA’s annual Salute to Armed Forces & Veterans game. According to ESPN, four service members were scheduled to rappel to the field 15 minutes before kickoff.
Witnesses cited by ABC News, however, said three service members were conducting the demonstration from the stadium ceiling, a drop of about 170 feet (approximately 52 metres).
According to ESPN, Tech Sgt Patterson appeared to lose control during his descent, sliding down the line before crashing onto the turf.
Adrian Corey, one of more than 23,000 spectators at the game, told ABC San Antonio affiliate KSAT: “Once the band started playing, there was a guy that fell down.”
Corey, who recorded the incident on his mobile phone, said he and other spectators realised something was wrong when the airman “started coming down fast”.
Emergency response
Medical personnel attended to Tech Sgt Patterson immediately. He was carried from the Alamodome on a stretcher and taken to hospital.
San Antonio Fire Department (SAFD) spokesman Joe Arrington told ABC News that firefighters responded at around 7pm local time after receiving a call about a person falling during a pregame event.
Arrington said the individual was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries. Tech Sgt Patterson was later pronounced dead.
Decision to proceed with the game
The game went ahead after kickoff was delayed by 10 minutes.
In a statement released on Sunday, 18 October 2026, the American Conference said the decision to proceed was made before there had been public confirmation of the service member’s condition.
“Respect for the family’s privacy and adherence to the military’s notification process guided the decision to mitigate speculation about the service member’s medical status and avoid additional distress for his family,” the conference said.
Speaking to reporters after the game, UTSA head coach Jeff Traylor described the accident as “heartbreaking” and “tragic”.
Traylor said he had only been told there had been an “incident” that would delay the start. He added that the team could see its effect on the crowd as soon as players arrived on the field.
“You could tell the energy was just gone,” he said. “It just really puts things in perspective. It really does.”
University and city respond
UTSA said it was activating well-being services to support faculty, staff and students who might be emotionally affected by the incident.
In a statement to ESPN, a UTSA spokesperson said students who witnessed the incident were encouraged to contact the university’s crisis hotline.
“Our heartfelt thoughts and prayers are with the soldier who was affected, his family and his military colleagues,” the spokesperson said.
“Our hearts are heavy following the tragic incident at the Alamodome prior to Saturday’s UT San Antonio football game against the U.S. Naval Academy,” UTSA president Taylor Eighmy said in a statement on Sunday.
“What was intended to be a day of camaraderie, tradition and celebration has been marked by profound sadness,” he said.
Eighmy extended his “deepest and most heartfelt sympathies” to the service member’s family, his fellow airmen, his squadron and all those whose lives had been touched by what he described as a “heartbreaking tragedy”.
San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones said in a social media post that she was “deeply saddened” to hear of the passing of an Air Force service member following “an unfortunate accident” at the game.
“We will keep his family in our prayers. May perpetual light shine upon him,” she wrote.
The role of Tactical Air Control Party specialists
According to an Air Force website, the service members taking part in the demonstration belonged to a team of specialists who embed with Army and Marine units and direct air and artillery strikes from forward ground positions.
Their training includes rapidly descending by rope, sometimes from helicopters hovering 100 feet (about 30 metres) or more above the ground.
