Indian IAF officer sets skydiving record in Nepal

Wing Commander Jai Kishan joined world skydiving champion Wendy Smith of New Zealand and tandem master Tom Noonan of the United States in making successful landing at the Gorak Shep, Kala Patthar plateau near the Mt Everest setting a world record on Wednesday.

They flew on Fish Tail Air’s AS 350 B3 helicopter at 7.30 am and reached the height of 23,000 ft before dropping from 21,000 ft at right air layer, according to the Explore Himalaya Travel that organised the event. “It was the fulfilment of my long cherished dream,” Kishan said after the successful jump.

They landed at Gorak Shep in the Kala Patthar plateau, lying at an altitude of 17,192 feet (5,242 m).

This is believed to be the highest skydiving stunt performed over highest drop zone in the world.

Prior to this event, seven skydivers from the Explore Himalaya skydiving team including Kishan had performed solo and tandem jumps at Shyangboche (12,350 ft) on October 16th and 17th, 2009.

Jai Kishan is also a mountaineer who made attempted to scale the world’s highest peak Mt Everest (8,848 m) in 2005 and Mt Lhotsein in 2007.