THAILAND: More than 400 international skydivers calling themselves the 'World Team' gather at Udon Thani to participate in the largest formation freefall in Thailand aiming to set a new world record for the event.

Record ID: 806940

  • Title: THAILAND: More than 400 international skydivers calling themselves the 'World Team' gather at Udon Thani to participate in the largest formation freefall in Thailand aiming to set a new world record for the event.
  • Date: 4th February 2006
  • Summary: (L!3) UDON THANI, THAILAND (FEBRUARY 2, 2006) (REUTERS) AV SKYDIVERS PARACHUTING; SKYDIVERS LANDING (SOUNDBITE) (English) WORLD TEAM LEADER, B.J. WORTH, SAYING: "I am very optimistic, not everybody was in the formation, but everybody did a good job exiting the airplanes getting to the area of the formation. You can see the colour path very well. Everybody is setting up and it just takes a few jumps but I am very happy for the way we started." MORE OF SKYDIVING VARIOUS OF SKYDIVERS PREPARING FOR THE NEXT JUMP (SOUNDBITE) (English) NEW MEMBER AMERICAN SKYDIVER FROM ARIZONA, ALIANA RODRIGUEZ SAYING: "I usually do competitive skydiving like within eight people, so , this is different for me to do a jump with so many people. It is really exciting." VARIOUS OF SKYDIVERS (SOUNDBITE) (English) AMERICAN SKYDIVER FROM SAN DIEGO, MARK TENNISON, SAYING: "I did it the last two times that we were here and it has been a great event and we will get the world record after it's done, so it's just going to take a couple of days to do it." VARIOUS OF SKYDIVERS PRACTISING ON THE GROUND/DIRT-DIVE
  • Embargoed: 19th February 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Thailand
  • Country: Thailand
  • Topics: Light / Amusing / Unusual / Quirky
  • Reuters ID: LVA6WPC9U7DZ784HN0WKY03AKB21
  • Story Text: More than 400 international skydivers calling themselves the 'World Team' gathered to participate in the largest formation freefall in Thailand on Thursday (February 2), aiming to set a new world record for the event.
    The World Team aims to make a record 400-way formation freefall jump from five Hercules C-130 military planes at 24,000 feet in Udon Thani, 560 km northeast of Bangkok between February 2-9.
    The 400-way freefall formation means that all 400 participants will have to hold onto another skydivers' hands to complete the formation in the air.
    The colour of formation will match the colour of Thai national flag - red, blue and white - at the request of the Thai Airforce which organised the event in honour of the 60th anniversary of the coronation of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the world's longest reigning monarch.
    When the doors of the aircraft open, the skydivers must be in their pre-designated positions in each formation with exactly the right grips on their neighbours' hands.
    There was a lot of tension in the air after a practice jump.
    "I am very optimistic. Not everybody was in the formation, but everybody did a good job exiting the airplanes, getting to the area of the formation. You can see the colour path very well. Everybody is setting up and it just takes a few jumps but I am very happy for the way we started," said B.J. Worth, a World Team leader.
    The jump will be considered the largest freefall formation if it beats the previous mark of 357 participants in a formation set in 2004 in Thailand.
    "I usually do competitive skydiving like within eight people, so , this is different for me to do a jump with so many people. It is really exciting", said Aliana Rodriguez, an American skydiver who had just joined the team.
    A panel of judges from the International Parachuting Commission (IPC) of the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) is in place to observe the jumpers and ensure that all participants make freefall skydives.
    The judges will present the results of the skydive to the Guinness Book of World Records after the event.
    This is the fourth time in eight years that the World Team has been in Thailand to set a record during the celebrations of the Thai King's reign.
    "I did it the last two times that we were here and it has been a great event and we will get the world record after it's done, so it's just going to take a couple of days to do it," said Mark Tennison, American skydiver.
    In addition to the 400-way formation in Udon Thani, a second event will bring together 960 skydivers from 40 countries who plan to fly over Bangkok's new Suvarnabhumi Airport on February 11 to achieve the largest mass parachute jump.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register