Guinness World Record skydiving: UAE-based Indians join Libya flag jump

Three UAE-based Indians were among 65 skydivers who set a Guinness World Record after jumping together from a single aircraft at 13,000 feet, each carrying their national flag, according to media reports. The record attempt took place in Libya on August 7 and was officially confirmed by Guinness World Records on August 14.

The three Indians were Jamsheer Thanalot from Kannur in Kerala, Abhishek Rawat from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh and Isha Raj from Patna in Bihar. They were the only Indians in the group, which included skydivers from around 38 nationalities, Gulf News and Khaleej Times reported.

According to the reports, each skydiver carried their national flag while jumping from a military Ilyushin Il-76TD aircraft. The successful attempt set a new record for the most skydivers jumping together with national flags from a single aircraft. During the jump, the three Indian participants carried the Tricolour.

The three are part of the skydiving community in the UAE and travelled to Libya on August 5. There, they completed three trial jumps before being cleared for the final attempt, the report said. Rawat told Gulf News, “Even after a combined total of over 1,500 jumps between us, it was stressful for each one of us.”

Thanalot told Gulf News that having 65 skydivers exit a single aircraft together was extremely rare in the sport, with most such jumps involving no more than 21 skydivers. He also told the Khaleej Times, “It is a very proud feeling for us. There were people from so many countries and we were there representing India.”

Khaleej Times reported that the jump was especially challenging because the participants had to control the large flags while avoiding entanglement with parachutes, maintain a safe distance from other skydivers and land inside a designated area covered by cameras for the record attempt to be counted. The feat saw the three UAE-based Indians join an international group in a record-setting jump while carrying the Indian flag.

With PTI Inputs

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