Ammon News - After retaking – at age 106 – the Guinness World Records (GWR) mark for oldest person to tandem skydive out of an airplane, Alfred “Al” Blaschke hailed his feat as living evidence that “everyone is more capable than they think”.

The particular record which Blaschke has now captured twice made international news because of an entirely different person altogether this past fall. On 1 October, 104-year-old Dorothy Hoffner of Chicago made a tandem skydive aimed at landing her the world’s record for essentially being the oldest person ever to jump from a plane.

But eight days later, while awaiting Guinness’s official certification of her achievement, Hoffner died in her sleep at her senior living community.

Blaschke then soared to the skies on a plane the morning of 27 November 2023. After reaching an altitude of 9,000ft (2.7km) over Fentress, Texas, Blaschke attached himself to a skydiving instructor and jumped out of the plane into a free fall with him. The pair then safely parachuted the final 5,500ft (1.7km) to the ground while his children, grandchildren, journalists and government officials cheered on below.

It was the third occasion that Blaschke had gone tandem skydiving. His second time was in 2020 – when he was 103 years and 181 days old, jumped out of a plane at 14,000ft (4.3kme) to celebrate his twin grandsons’ graduation from college, and broke the Guinness record for oldest tandem skydiver.

“That was my dream,” Blaschke said after the 2020 jump, which was three years after he celebrated his 100th birthday with his debut skydive, according to Guinness. “I never thought I’d be around this long.”

The Guardian