A 35-year-old skydiver named Gerado Flores is lucky to be alive after recently surviving a 13,000-foot fall, all while catching the horrifying experience on tape.
Flores, an experienced skydiver, has completed 29 successful jumps, was 30 seconds into his free fall when suddenly his parachute opened unexpectedly 13,000 feet above ground.
"It just exploded ... It just it yanked me to the side. Something went wrong ... One hundred things go through your mind. You are never suppose to open above 6,000 feet."
According to the NY Daily News, Flores passed out after his parachute failed and fell unconscious to earth. The skydiver survived the 13,000-foot fall but he didn't escape without injury. Flores suffered broken ribs and a lacerated tongue in the fall. He was also knocked unconscious after making impact and didn't wake up until two weeks later.
An investigation has been conducted on the incident and found that a "critical" Velcro closure was "completely worn" on Flores' gear. Inspectors also said that the skydivers rigging had knots in it and that some of the suspension lines were broken.
One of the inspectors said: "these lines should have been replaced prior top allowing this parachute to be placed in service."
Here's a video of the fall.
