A skydiving jump in the United States nearly turned fatal after a man lost consciousness almost immediately after exiting the aircraft, plunging thousands of meters toward the ground with no control and no awareness, according to footage captured on his helmet camera.
The incident occurred after the skydiver jumped from approximately 3,500 meters. Video shows him leaving the plane normally before suddenly going limp just seconds into freefall. With no attempt to deploy his parachute, the unconscious man continued falling at high speed as the ground rushed closer.
At roughly 270 meters above the surface, an automatic safety device activated his reserve parachute. The system, designed to deploy when a skydiver is descending too fast at a dangerously low altitude, engaged without any action from the jumper himself.
The reserve chute opened just in time.
The man reportedly regained consciousness before landing and survived the incident with only minor bruises and a small cut, an outcome experts say borders on miraculous given the circumstances. Without the automatic activation device, the fall almost certainly would have ended in death.
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