Alfred “Al” Blaschke (b. 4 January 1917) from Texas, USA, has officially reclaimed his status as the world’s oldest person to tandem skydive.
Al was 106 years 327 days old – over three years older than the previous record – at the time of his jump.
He first broke the record in 2020, aged 103, when he jumped out of a moving plane at 14,000 feet to celebrate his twin grandsons’ college graduations.
“That was my dream […] I never thought I’d be around this long,” Al said at the time.
That was his second skydive ever; his first took place three years prior, on his 100th birthday.
Al decided to do his most recent skydive after his record was broken in 2022 by a Swedish woman named Rut Linnéa Ingegärd Larsson, who was aged 103 years 259 days.
He was joined by the governor of Texas, Greg Abbott, who had agreed to skydive alongside Al when they met after Al first broke the record.
Bad weather and scheduling issues caused the jump to be postponed four times, but on the morning of 27 November 2023, Al and Governor Abbott geared up and boarded the aircraft.
They were carried to an altitude of 9,000 feet, where they each attached to their expert instructors and exited the plane into free fall.
Watching on from below were all of Al’s children and grandchildren, as well as various media members and government officials.
Al’s main parachute was deployed at 5,500 feet, whereupon he glided down to a safe landing with his instructor.
After catching his breath, he shook hands with Governor Abbott and congratulated him on his first skydive.
Al said to the press in attendance: “If you think you can’t, you’re just underestimating yourself. Everyone is more capable than they think. They just need to make the decision to try.”
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