The Department of Tourism and Mysuru airport authorities launched skydiving operations with a private aviation company here on Saturday with two IAS officers taking a plunge from the skies.
Secretary to the Department of Social Welfare P. Manivannan and his counterpart in the Department of Tourism Naveen Raj Singh took turns to carry out “tandem jump” with an instructor from a height of more than 10,000 feet to signal the start of skydiving operations.
The Tourism Department has tied up with Skyriders, an aviation company approved by the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation and cleared by the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), which is a pioneer in skydiving in India. “The skydiving operations will be conducted for the next two months after which a decision will be taken to continue, depending on the response from the public,” said Deputy Commissioner of Mysuru D. Randeep.
Skydiving enthusiasts will have to first undergo training for a couple of hours before they board the four-seater Cessna aircraft from which they will jump out with an instructor.
Speaking after his maiden plunge from the skies, Mr. Manivannan described the sports as “very safe”, while Mr. Randeep said Skyriders have been conducting skydiving in India for the last five years and had made more than 1,000 civilians skydive in the country with a good record in safety.
Mr. Singh, who also skydived, said Mysuru has been identified by the Civil Aviation authorities as a safe “drop zone”.
On his experience, Mr. Manivannan said, “I thought of my wife.” He appealed to the citizens of Mysuru to use the facility available locally as most people go to foreign countries to experience the adventure of skydiving.
Adventure sports enthusiast D.S.D. Solanki said a skydiver will first experience a free fall for about 25 to 30 seconds after which the parachute opens and she or he will be air-borne for another 5 to 7 minutes. Unlike para-dropping, skydiving facilitates precision landing for the skydiver, who can manoeuvre the parachute to the identified spot.
