Kerala - Alappuzha   

Skydivers thrill crowds

Staff Reporter

An even more stunning dash in store on boat race day

ALAPPUZHA: Parachute-jumping by two Indian Air Force (IAF) personnel here on Thursday evening gave moments of heart-stopping thrill to hundreds of people who gathered on seeing them travel the air.

Jayasankar and Mik Reddy, Wing Commanders from the Directorate of Air Force Adventure, jumped from a height of 5,000 feet as a trial. The real jump will be attempted from a height of 7,000 feet above the finishing point of the Nehru Trophy Boat Race at Punnamada Lake at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Jump from MI-8

In the trial, Jayasankar and Mik Reddy jumped from an MI-8 helicopter. After freely falling up to 3,000 feet, they opened their parachutes and slowly controlled the fall to a spot in front of the VIP pavilion at the finishing point of the boat race.

The sight of two persons falling freely from an aircraft amazed hundreds of people who arrived there. The public broke into applause as the two touched water and disentangled themselves from the parachutes.

Mr. Jayasankar, a native of Shoranur, said Thursday's landing was the first-ever such feat made by parachute jumpers in the country. But it would not be counted as it was only a trial jump. Mr. Jayasankar and Mr. Reddy, who work in the air traffic control wing of the Indian Air Force, are the only parachute jumpers in the country who have made more than 1,100 sports jumps. Mr. Jayasankar said the directorate provided opportunities to those working in various sections of the IAF, including the civilian section, to practise and participate in adventure sports. He said both of them were satisfied with the trial jump, though the wind speed at 15 knots an hour was not ideal.

Relatives of Mr. Jayasankar, had arrived here to witness the jump.

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