Two months after the incident, mainland Chinese media revealed that a post-2000 generation soldier died in a parachute training mission when he encountered an unexpected situation after jumping out of the aircraft and fell to the ground.
According to the report from “He News” on August 8th, a Hainan Airlines flight landed at the Tenghu Airport in Bengbu, and the ashes of Xia Shiyuan were transferred back to Anhui province.
It was reported that from authoritative sources, Xia Shiyuan, born on December 10, 2002, from Huaiyuan, Anhui, enlisted in September 2021 and was a warrior of the 42nd Squadron of a certain unit of the Chinese Communist Party. On the morning of May 27, 2026, Xia Shiyuan participated in a parachute training mission with the unit, parachuting in Golmud City. An unexpected situation occurred after he jumped out of the aircraft, causing him to fall to the ground. Despite rescue efforts, he was declared dead at 12:32 that day, at the age of only 23. He was officially recognized as a “martyr.”
The Chinese Communist Party often keeps military deaths secret or delays disclosure.
In July 2026, two naval aviation officers from the Southern Theater Command — Colonel Fang Ming and Lieutenant Shi Shaoyong — were successively revealed by local media. Both were officially declared as “martyrs,” with the same death date of June 10, 2026. They both died during flight training, sparking speculation about the crash incident in the South China Sea. However, the military did not disclose details. There were suspicions from the public that the two died in a plane crash in the South China Sea, with rumors circulating that there was another deceased individual.