They want to establish their identity in the skies of Arecibo

Antonio ‘Neri’ Juarbe Airport in Arecibo became the meeting point for more than 400 professional skydivers from Puerto Rico, Chicago, Italy, Belgium, Mexico and other parts of the world. as well as trainees and skydiving and ‘tandem’ enthusiasts who are participating in ‘Castaway Puerto Rico’ Skydiving Festival.

As explained by Ernesto Díaz Zambrana, owner of Skydive Puerto Rico Skydiving Academy, which organizes the program in conjunction with Skydive Chicago, Several national formation jump records are expected to be broken.

“This festival used to be held every year in Arecibo and it was on pause about four or five years ago, and Skydive Chicago, which is one of the most important academies in the world, approached us to do the festival, and we Starting it again,” Diaz Zambrana explained.

“Skydive Chicago is in charge of registration and has brought their aircraft, two Twin Otters, which seat 24 people, as well as our Caravan aircraft, which is slightly smaller, in a joint effort to break the training record. The previous record was 26 people in one formation. During all the days of the festival, in the morning, we are trying to set a new record of having 35 people in a formation at one time,” Diaz Zambrana explained.

The businessman, who founded the academy with his wife Karin, a veteran skydiving tester of the Mexican Armed Forces, explained that Skydive Chicago’s participation in the event gives them the opportunity to gain greater access to the festival, as it is an academy. Which is located in the most important skydiving area in the world, which is Chicago.

“They get a lot of calls, so it is through them that all these people come here, because we are going to use their planes. It’s all about the airplane, because in skydiving we will not jump out of a Cessna. “We’re jumping from Twin Otter planes that allow 24 people to jump at a time.”he explained.

For his part, Carlos Serrano, coordinator of the teams trying to break the training jump mark, indicated that they have been coordinating this event for about seven or eight months, in which several skydiving, aviation, parachute equipment companies participate. , do parachuting. and academies, but also coordinating to acquire and train parachutists who can deliver the training.

,You have to find that person that has the ability to do that, group them together, literally walk to the right place that is the jump. In other words, you organize the training, everything that’s going to be done in the air, and then you walk over to the plane in the air, looking at it. It is a process that requires a lot of time and patience, as from the moment you get on the plane, everything is precisely coordinated beforehand. Getting on the plane, where they sit, when you get on, where you get off, where you go in formation, how you get in formation, how you stay there and how you get out of formation so that everybody stay safe“, They told.

He said that an attempt was made to train 26 people in the first two days of the event, but it was not possible. “We tried this morning. it did not work. We have made some changes in the organization. We will go again tomorrow morning. And if not tomorrow then the next morning. And if not, the next morning,” he said. Serrano revealed that another challenge he faces is the height at which the jumps are being made. According to the lawyer, when it comes to breaking jump marks, it is done from high altitude, which uses oxygen, but they did not have enough time to equip the ships with oxygen, so the jump was stopped. going. From a height of 15 thousand feet.

Skydive is a family business and the skydivers taking part to break the record include some of Eduardo’s family members: his father, his brother Ramon, his wife Karin and their daughter, Karin Montano, 22 and who has since turned three. Started parachuting from then itself. years old.

Karin holds one record in girls jumping in Puerto Rico and three formation jumping records in Mexico, including a 50-person formation, the largest formation ever held in that country. The young woman, who studied aviation in addition to skydiving, described skydiving as giving her a feeling of “freedom.”

“In an aircraft you have a propulsion system, but here you are alone in the air. You only depend on your body and of course your team. But before you open the parachute, you fly with your body and air passes through your arms and legs. So, it’s just this feeling of complete freedom and knowing that, if you can jump out of a plane, you can do anything,” he said.

The Castaway Puerto Rico Skydiving Festival continues this Sunday and in addition to attempting to set national records for parachute jumps and formation jumps, an average of 75 tandem jumps will be performed per day, so that those who have never jumped with a parachute can try it. Can enjoy. Experience. For tandem jumps you can contact Skydive Puerto Rico at 787-436-6215 or 787-472-3483. To register for Castaway Puerto Rico, you can access the following link: www.skydivechicago.com.