On Saturday, Virginia Tech’s annual spring game, the first on-field debut for new head coach James Franklin, turned into a scary moment within seconds. During the pre-game festivities, a skydiver crashed into the big scoreboard at Lane Stadium while trying to land on the practice field. He narrated the terrifying incident and how he avoided tragedy.

“When I was approaching, everything looked fine, and the wind picked up as I was getting into the stadium. Picked up way above what it was expected, and it looked like I was going to land on the crowd, which could have been pretty dangerous,” said the skydiver, Pasha Palanker. “I was turning to try to go into that field (the practice field outside the stadium); another wind shear came in and just slipped me into that Jumbotron.

I was just really glad that the parachute was hanging on, whatever it was hung on.” Palanker, a decorated Army special operations veteran with Ohio-based Team Fastrax, was no stranger to Lane Stadium, having performed there nearly a dozen times. But on this day, the unpredictable winds that threw him off course also affected his teammates; of the three-person team, only one skydiver landed in the stadium as planned, while another was forced onto the practice field. Palanker was the third to make the dive, and when he realized the shifting winds were pushing him toward the stands, he redirected his path to avoid a dangerous collision with fans.

Doing that, he struck the upper portion of the video board, becoming entangled between the “C” and “H” of the “VIRGINIA TECH” lettering. The forceful collision left him momentarily unable to breathe while parts of a sign broke apart. NEW: The skydiver from Virginia Tech’s spring game speaks out for the first time: He explained landing on the scoreboard: “It looked like I was gonna land on the crowd, which would’ve been dangerous.” An absolute HERO pic.twitter.com/PGNqu7Bcys — College Transfer Portal (@CollegeFBPortal) April 20, 2026 He remained suspended for 20 to 30 minutes before first responders from the Blacksburg Fire Department used a crane and ladder truck to bring him down safely.

“We are grateful to report that the skydiver was safely secured and is currently stable. Our primary focus remains on their well-being,” said Virginia Tech officials. “We extend our sincere appreciation to the first responders, event staff, and medical personnel for their swift, coordinated, and professional response.” Virginia Tech’s spring game drew a massive crowd estimated at over 60,000 fans.

During that harrowing wait, Palanker’s training took over as he worked to reduce the risk for everyone below. He was treated on-site and released without serious injury. But “it’s not the first time that I walked away from something like that,” added the skydiver.

Virginia Tech saw an absolute hero While suspended roughly 100 feet in the air, Palanker dropped the flag and a smaller secondary parachute into the crowd below to reduce the weight and tension on his snagged main parachute while waiting for the Blacksburg Fire Department to arrive with a crane and ladder truck. “He made a decision that was going to be the safest decision for him and the crowd and not put that weight from the flag into the crowd,” said Team Fastrax ground safety specialist Sam Deeds. “To make that decision at 700, 1,000 feet to try to not put it in the crowd and make it safe for everybody, it takes a lot of training to do that.

“There’s a cutaway system in all of our flag systems, in case there is some type of malfunction. So he did cut that away safely. He made sure no one was below him before he did it.” “We train for this not to happen.

The one thing we can’t train for is Mother Nature to creep up on you,” added Deeds. The incident caused a delay of over an hour, with the spring game eventually kicking off at 4:10 p.m.