KOCHI: Jithin Vijayan, an IT professional from Kochi, has set records in skydiving. With his most recent jump — from Whiteville in Tennessee, USA, on July 1 — the 41-year-old has set the Guinness World Record for the longest outdoor freefall (2:47 minutes). Inadvertently, this feat also saw him set two Asian records — for exit from the highest altitude (42,431 feet) and the longest fall without a drogue (36,929 feet).
“It was the aircraft’s pilot who brought to my notice that I was likely the first Asian to jump from this height. Apparently, no one had jumped from above 30,000 feet before,” Jithin says. While he wholeheartedly welcomes these accolades, setting records was never his intention. “By then, I was in it for skydiving, that rush. And I just wanted to unfurl the Indian flag at a height above Mount Everest [29,030 feet],” he adds.
Interestingly, he has set a Guinness record for this as well — for the highest altitude skydiving with a flag (42,431 feet). The records have been verified by an official from the World Airsports Federation, who also calculated the total duration of his skydive— a little over seven minutes.
What perhaps makes these feats extra special is that Jithin picked up skydiving less than a year ago — on October 2022, to be precise. Within 10 months, he has become an accomplished skydiver with 148 jumps to his name.
Jithin’s first skydiving experience, however, was in 2019, when he and his family were on a holiday in New Zealand. “It was a tandem jump, meaning you are tied to an instructor. These jumps usually happen from an altitude of 15,000 feet, and the freefall only lasts under a minute,” he explains.
Though it was an exhilarating experience, Jithin, despite being an adventure junkie, did not give skydiving much thought. At least, not until his return from an all-India trip during the waning days of the Covid pandemic.
“During the trip, I happened to visit the Everest Base Camp. I was awestruck by the majestic mountain. On return, I asked my wife if I could scale it. ‘No’ was the immediate reply. She asked me to consider other sports. When I fielded skydiving, it was not met with much resistance, much to my surprise. She likely mistook all skydiving to be like the tandem jump we enjoyed in New Zealand,” Jithin quips.
“Tandem jumps are easy. There’s not much preparation involved in it. You just have to be present. That’s all. Skydiving is different,” he adds. Indeed. Just how different and dangerous skydiving is could be explained by this one fact — there are more people who’ve scaled Mount Everest than those who have taken to skydiving in India.
“There are only about 1 lakh licence holders in skydiving in the whole world. Of them, the number of people who we can call experienced skydivers is only half. In India, there are only about 100 skydivers (civilians, not military). In Kerala, this number is less than 20,” he says.
This also explains why there are not many places in either Kerala or India that facilitate skydiving. “The closest one is in Mysuru,” Jithin says. However, his accelerated skydiving training was in Spain — a two-week class in 2022.
“The thing with skydiving is that you have to make a jump each month. If the gap between jumps is too long, say, two months, then the person has to demonstrate the ability by undertaking a jump or two. There’s an assessment, and only if you qualify can you lose the instructor,” says Jithin, who kept up his practice by stealing visits to in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, and even the UK.
This dedication has also led to a new Guinness record — for the most consecutive days to skydive (different dropzones), which is 18. Jithin’s next skydive jump is slated for September - in Russia. This time, he has no plans to set new records, as yet. “I’m looking forward to completing a few formation sets. I want to become a tandem instructor,” he says.
FLYING HIGH
First Asian to jump from an altitude of 42,431 feet
(from an aircraft)
World records
Longest outdoor freefall: 2:47 minutes
Highest altitude skydiving with a flag: 42,431 feet
Asia records
Exit from the highest altitude: 42,431 feet
Longest fall without a drogue: 36,929 feet
DID YOU KNOW?
For his record-breaking jump, Jithin Vijayan went to Tennessee, the very place the first skydiving attempt took place, only to end in disaster as it saw the untimely demise of a participant
YOU TOO CAN SKYDIVE; HERE’S HOW
Nearest destination: Skyriders, Mysuru Tandem jumps: Rs 35,000 (3 hours)
Accelerated Free Fall: Rs 2,50,000 (7-day training, 10 jumps)
Timings: 7 am to 9 am
One full day of ground training is required to carry out your first solo parachute jump (4,000 feet)
Jithin is the CEO of Ndimensionz Solutions, an IT firm in Kochi.