Gerardo Flores is lucky to be alive. The skydiver recently survived a 13,000-foot fall and thanks to his GoPro camera, he can relive the horrifying experience over and over again.
According to the Daily Mail , Flores who has completed 29 successful jumps, was 30 seconds into his free fall when his parachute opened unexpectedly. Flores said that he was about 13,000 above the ground when parachute failed.
Flores said:
“It just exploded … It just it yanked me to the side. Something went wrong … One hundred things go through your mind. You are never suppose to open above 6,000 feet.”
According to the NY Daily News , Flores passed out after his parachute failed and fell unconscious to earth. The skydiver survived the 13,000-foot fall but he didn’t escape without injury. Flores suffered broken ribs and a lacerated tongue in the fall. He was also knocked unconscious after making impact and didn’t wake up until two weeks later.
Flores said: ‘The FAA said you are the luckiest man I ever met.”
The FAA investigated the incident and found that a “critical” Velcro closure was “completely worn” on Flores’ gear. Inspectors also said that the skydivers rigging had knots in it and that some of the suspension lines were broken.
One of the inspectors said: “these lines should have been replaced prior top allowing this parachute to be placed in service.”
Here’s a video of the fall.
