Skydiver's Helmet Cam Shows 1000 Meter Plunge

A skydiver's helmet camera falls off his head in mid- air and captures a 1000-meter plunge to the ground. The camera is eventually picked up by a group of people, which is what made the sharing of this video possible. This is a very interesting to see, so we are thankful someone picked it up. Credit for this video has been given to Reuters.Show more

The video begins at the top of the skydiver’s descent. A red screen first appears only for a second to give more information about what exactly is happening here. You may have to pause the video to have the time to read this screen since it does disappear so quickly. This screen says that the skydiving took place in South Africa on April 11th, 2015. The screen also gives the duration of the video and other details.

Viewers will see several men captured on camera mid-air. They are all flying toward the earth’s surface in a traditional skydiving position. This position is on the stomach with one’s feet and arms outward to the sides of them. Take a moment to enjoy the incredible scenery around and behind them before continuing the video. From the altitude they are at in that moment, the curvature of the earth can be seen. This is a beautiful and breathtaking sight. This is not a view that many people have the pleasure of seeing, so it is definitely interesting to take a few minutes to appreciate it. The views at this altitude are what attracts many people to get involved in the sport and adventure of skydiving. These are views that can only be truly appreciated by seeing them in person, but at least we can try to live vicariously through the camera view of the jumpers portrayed in the video.

After that, we see the diver releases his parachute. This jerks the diver upward vertically so that he is no longer laid out on his stomach. He now falls more gently toward the earth’s surface and has time to appreciate the beauty that surrounds him. Buildings and cars seem so small beneath him.

The next notable occurrence is when the camera actually falls off of the diver’s helmet. It is very difficult to see what is going on at this point as the camera plummets violently to the earth’s surface. Finally, it hits the ground and lands in a bed of grass. Shockingly, the camera does not seem to be broken in any way. That certainly speaks to the solid manufacturing of the equipment. The camera is not on the ground long, though. A small group of people near the camera’s landing spot go to investigate what has just fallen out of the sky. They pick up the camera to check it out, and they bring it over to where they were just sitting. This had to be a very shocking but interesting moment for these people. It is not often that things like this just fall out of the sky for others to find!