Skydiver speaks out after crashing into Virginia Tech stadium scoreboard
A skydiver is speaking out after he crashed into a stadium scoreboard during a pregame event at a Virginia Tech football game over the weekend and had to be rescued.
Pasha Palanker was one of three performers scheduled to parachute onto the field before the Hokies' first spring season game on Saturday and told ABC News everything was going as planned until winds picked up unexpectedly.
"When I was approaching, everything looked fine," Palanker told ABC News. "And as the wind picked up, as I was getting into the stadium, it picked up way above what is expected, and it looked like I was gonna land on the crowd -- which could have been pretty dangerous."
Palanker, fearing he might hit fans in the stands at Lane Stadium, said he quickly changed course to instead aim for the practice field.
"As I was turning to try and go into that field, another wind shear came in and just slammed me into that jumbotron," he said.
Palanker said the impact of the crash knocked the wind out of him, as pieces of the scoreboard fell and the crowd watched from below.
In video footage of the incident, Palanker's parachute gets caught between the letters "C" and "H" on top of the Virginia Tech scoreboard.
"It took me a second just to get my bearings," Palanker recalled. "And then I was just really glad that that parachute was hanging on whatever it was hung on, because it was a long way down."
Virginia Tech confirmed the incident in a statement Saturday, saying, "One of three parachutists was blown off course and got stuck on our stadium scoreboard."
Palanker remained hanging from the scoreboard for nearly 20 minutes before the Blacksburg Fire Department was called in, and crews brought a crane ladder to get him to safety, according to the school.
Palanker sustained an injury to his shoulder, but was otherwise OK.
"You know what? It could have been so much worse," Palanker said. "I'm doing great. I feel blessed, lucky, whatever people want to call it."
Palanker, a 17-year Army special operations veteran who joined the parachute team after he retired from the military, said the activity has helped him cope with post-traumatic stress disorder.
"I found that meaning that I was missing from my time in service," he said. "And it's a ton of pride for me to fly an American flag into an event with thousands of people watching us do that."
