Parachutes in the News

UK Provides Emergency Air Drop - Medical personnel parachute to remote island:

Recent news stories have featured the outbreak of Hantavirus, the life-threatening respiratory illness that occurred when a cruise ship visited the remote island of Tristan da Cunha in April. The island has no air strip and is normally only accessible by boat. Medical resources are meager; thus, an air drop was only way to get medical support and supplies.

Photo by UK Ministry of Defence

On May 9. an Airbus A400M Atlas plane flew from Ascension Island to drop eight military personnel by parachute and 3.3 tons of medical supplies in three batches. This was the first ever emergency airdrop onto Tristan da Cunha. The chosen personnel were a British Army Pathfinder Platoon from 16 Air Assault Brigade — six paratroopers and two passengers, a consultant doctor and an ICU military nurse. They jumped in two groups from 7,000 ft, about 3 miles out over the sea, drifting backwards in the wind. The first group landed near the Back Fence; the second landed on the island's 9-hole golf course next to the settlement. Tristan da Cunha. Quite an extraordinary logistical feat to reach the world's most remote inhabited island in a medical emergency. See below for link to full story.

Click the link below to see the full report and photos on the Tristan da Cunha website:

https://www.tristandc.com/government/news-2026-05-11-airdrop.php

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