JERVIS BAY — An Australian Defence Force soldier died during a parachuting training course at Jervis Bay airfield on Monday. A second soldier was injured in the incident but did not require hospitalisation.

The 50-year-old soldier died following a mid-air collision with another paratrooper after their parachutes had deployed. The collision occurred a few hundred feet above the ground in low-light conditions, with the experienced paratroopers using night-vision goggles during the exercise.

In a statement, the defence department said further updates would be provided when possible. Federal government frontbencher Mark Butler responded to the incident. "Monday's death was a very deep tragedy," Butler said.

The death follows other fatal incidents involving ADF personnel in recent years. Jack Fitzgibbon was injured in March 2024 at the RAAF airbase at Richmond, about 50 km north-west of Sydney's CBD, during a routine training activity. Fitzgibbon received first aid at the scene and was taken to Westmead hospital in a serious condition, and died in early 2024 during the parachute incident.

Parachute training was paused for two months following Fitzgibbon's death. Investigations into the March 2024 incident were launched by the NSW coroner and the Inspector General of the Australian Defence Force.

Other training fatalities have occurred in separate circumstances. In October 2025, an army soldier was fatally injured and two others were injured in a vehicle rollover at the Townsville Field Training Area in north Queensland. Two soldiers were killed in a truck rollover south of Townsville in August 2021. In September 2023, the defence department was charged with breaching federal work health and safety laws over the 2021 incident.