The way they are in parachutes when they come out of the C-130 paradrop plane in the Generals power is that the ObjectCreationList associated with that power creates the infantry and places them inside the parachute object. It's impossible to get infantry to paradrop from a plane the way you want them to. I assume they just die on impact? :P
no...they just take minimul damage, but that also depends on how fast the plane is going...the faster, the less damage cause the infantry just skim and slide against the ground, the slow, the worse cause everything spreads out and falls directly down.