:eek: :yikes:

vleQ1bh-YAM

An 80-year-old woman who said she's wanted to skydive "for years" barely made it to the ground alive after she slipped out of her harness, with only her instructor's grip on her clothes stopping a 13,000-foot plummet.

The woman, only known as "Lavern" appears calm and collected in an online video as she waits to jump out of a plane, telling the man behind the camera this is how she wants to celebrate her 80th birthday.

But at the last minute, she panics and clings to the aircraft's door as her tandem instructor pushes them both out into the sky.

Then, she slips from her harness, and plummets the rest of the way bent almost in half, her shirt and jacket hauled up and her skin literally flapping in the wind.

The video, posted to YouTube Thursday, shows the instructor bring Lavern to the ground all in one piece.

You can hear he say at the end of the video, "That was close."... Understatement of the year.

:eek: :yikes:

vleQ1bh-YAM



You can hear he say at the end of the video, "That was close."... Understatement of the year.

:eek::eek::eek::eek::clap:

Still, a happy ending ..............

Must have been terrifying for both the old lady and the jumper... he did an amazing job to hold onto her and get her to the ground safely.

Best. Comment. Ever.

"A personal rule of mine is never to push an old lady out of an airplane if she doesn't want to go."

Best. Comment. Ever.

"A personal rule of mine is never to push an old lady out of an airplane if she doesn't want to go."

My thoughts exactly, amazing the lengths some will go to not have to refund the cost of admission.
The instructor is lucky she did not have a heart attack.

Best. Comment. Ever.

"A personal rule of mine is never to push an old lady out of an airplane if she doesn't want to go."

My thoughts exactly, amazing the lengths some will go to not have to refund the cost of admission.
The instructor is lucky she did not have a heart attack.

Yeah I wondered about that too... I would think that there must be some sort of waiver they sign indicating that they will be "proded" to jump when the time comes. I am sure there are many people who get cold feet and need to be "pushed" out the door.

That being said it seemed she required quite a bit of pushing. I suspect that is part of the reason why the instructor held on to her so tightly after she slipped out of the harness.

Could you imagine his regret and guilt if he dropped her after he basically forced her to jump.

Re: refunding the cost for not jumping, I would suspect that if the jumper chickens out they must sign a contract indicating the fee will not be refunded if they refuse to jump.

I'm pretty certain they pay in advance, so there's nothing to refund if they choose not to jump. Since the woman clearly had some apprehension about jumping, whether it was due to realizing the equipment didn't feel right or even just a sense of fear, she should NEVER have been forced out of the cabin to do that tandem jump. That the guy saved her life is offset by the fact that he nearly killed her. Not exactly heroic, and I'd be thinking twice before jumping with that company.

I'd say it's about time someone looked into the design shortcomings of these harnesses.
I know the the Fall Protection harnesses I've worn over the years would never allow you to just "slip out".

Did anyone else notice before she jumps the strap looks loose around her left shoulder? The scene while they were still seated I noticed it the most.

I'd say it's about time someone looked into the design shortcomings of these harnesses.
I know the the Fall Protection harnesses I've worn over the years would never allow you to just "slip out".

U.S. aviation officials investigate skydiving mishap | CTV News (http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20120526/skydiver-slips-from-harness-120526/)

I'm pretty certain they pay in advance, so there's nothing to refund if they choose not to jump. Since the woman clearly had some apprehension about jumping, whether it was due to realizing the equipment didn't feel right or even just a sense of fear, she should NEVER have been forced out of the cabin to do that tandem jump. That the guy saved her life is offset by the fact that he nearly killed her. Not exactly heroic, and I'd be thinking twice before jumping with that company.

Agreed. It wasn't heroic, but that he was able to avert disaster and get her to the ground safely after forcing her out of the plane is admirable.

I don't know but I would think there must be some pressure to get people with cold feet out the door as the "drop zone" can't be unlimited and there were several other people behind her waiting to jump and if it takes too long they might miss their turn. However that being said if it is taking too long they should have just brought her back inside and let the others go.

I know old people love to wear loose fitting clothes but yikes!!! - wow.. I found it almost hard to even watch the video as they look like they were shoving her out of the plane.. - I wonder if she will ever do that again?
I thought everyone had to wear a suit and harness?
when you walk on the edge of CN tower - they make you were a suit and harness [ do 1 and 2 before you attempt the edge walk ].. interesting