Just when you think jumping out of a plane at thousands of feet above the Earth was just about the safest thing you could do, a video comes out that may make you think twice about ever letting your feet leave the ground.
Watch below to see this woman’s excitement turn to terror, as she just about slips out of her harness as soon as she is forced out of the plane by the instructor.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qtb3N7eqejM&feature=player_embedded
ABC News writes:
A video of an elderly woman’s skydiving adventure gone horribly awry has gone viral, perhaps serving as a warning literally to look before you leap — or at least to mind your elders when it looks like they actually don’t want to jump out of the plane.
The video was created by The Parachute Center, a skydiving company in Acampo, Calif., as a memento for jumpers to take home after their airborne adventures.
But someone posted it on The Chive, a video site on which a counter said it has been viewed more than 170,000 times. It shows Laverne, an energetic woman who has just turned 80 and has rounded up a crew of female relatives to go skydiving with her. She tells the camera that she’s “real excited,” and that she has wanted to do this for “at least 10 years.”
Cut to the plane taking off to an upbeat rock tune by The Offspring. We see Laverne smiling, looking out the window, and putting on her safety goggles. A few jumpers dive from the open plane window and whoosh down toward the earth below. Looks like they’re all having fun.
But wait a second — something’s wrong. The Offspring song has been cranked up and it’s Laverne’s turn to jump with her towheaded tandem instructor, but it looks as if she’s having second thoughts. She’s no longer smiling and is instead clinging to the side of the open door. Then her legs buckle and she’s sitting down, refusing to move, and appears to mouth the word “No!”
Instead of letting the poor woman just sit it out — it’s not like they’re on an episode of “Fear Factor,” right? — the instructor scoops her up and they fall forward out of the plane.
The camera person has also jumped, so from his vantage point, we see that Laverne has evidently slipped out of her harness so that the straps are attaching her to her instructor from behind her knees. She’s also clinging to him with her arms. And her shirt has flown up, so we see part of Laverne’s torso. The instructor starts trying to pull her shirt down, which is the last thing we see before the camera cuts to the scenery thousands of feet below them.
Read more at abcnews.go.com