An experienced paratrooper of the Australian army died in a mid-air collision during a training exercise on the New South Wales coast, authorities said. The incident took place at the Jervis Bay airfield at around 5.40pm on Monday when Warrant Officer Lachlan Muddle fell to the ground after a collision with another paratrooper, sustaining fatal injuries. Muddle, 50, was assisting a parachute training activity when the accident took place, Army Special Operations Commander Major General Garth Gould said. The collision happened a few hundred feet above ground, in low-light conditions as the paratroopers were training using night-vision goggles. “What we know about the incident is that both paratroopers collided several hundred feet above the ground whilst they were manoeuvring towards the drop zone," he said. "After the collision, both soldiers fell from height." The second soldier survived the fall with minor injuries and did not require hospitalisation, the Guardian reported .…