Two Argentine skydivers broke the record for nighttime altitude jumps by jumping from 12,500 metres above sea level, in the stratosphere, at an airfield near the American city of Memphis, in the state of Tennessee.
Two Argentine skydivers broke the nighttime altitude record by jumping from 12,500 meters highat the level of the stratosphere, at an airfield near the American city of Memphisin the state of Tennessee.
The parachutists Alejandro Montagna and Marcelo Vives amounted to 12,500 meters high in a specialized aircraft and jumped into the void in complete darkness over the WTS airfield.
This is a new world record which was approved by a judge, but official confirmation was still pending.
Minutes after landing, Alejandro said: “I have 4,500 jumps, but this surpasses everything I have done to date. It was very intense, the cold, the speed, the oxygen mask, the time in free fall.”
“At first, for the first minute, Marcelo and I didn’t know if we were over the landing zone or not. The view was very confusing from such a high altitude. There was nothing we could do. But Taylor (the third parachutist), who knows the area very well, quickly identified the lights of a large prison about 5 km away, and to the south of that he saw the marine rescue beacons we had placed on the runway,” said the parachutist.
Alejandro mentioned some difficulties they had: “Despite the crosswinds, quite strong at low altitude, Taylor and I managed to land a few meters from the beacons. Marcelo (Vives), who by procedure had to open 300 meters above us, had difficulties to arrive and by very few meters did not land on the trees. He showed me the video and, literally, he landed 5 meters from the end of the forest. That could have been a problem,” he recalled.
The previous record, achieved by the American Andy Stumpf in 2019 had been 36,000 feet (approximately 10,973 meters).
Source: Ambito
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
