That’s what jumping from the cargo door of the C-130 Hercules looks like

November 14, 2013 Military Aviation

David Cenciotti

Taken by a photographer of the Força Aérea Brasileira from the cargo door of a Royal Canadian Air Force CC-130J Super Hercules during Cruzex 2013, this year major military exercise in South America, this image shows a paratrooper jumping over Rio Grande do Norte, Brasil, on Nov. 8, 2013.

The paratrooper was involved in a high altitude launch and free fall, a procedure different from a low level launch, like the one that saw an unlucky Thai paratrooper die after the deploy line didn’t snap causing him to remain stucked to the plane until he fell to the ground (with a reserve chute failing as well).

Image credit: FAB

About David Cenciotti

David Cenciotti is a journalist based in Rome, Italy. He is the Founder and Editor of “The Aviationist”, one of the world’s most famous and read military aviation blogs. Since 1996, he has written for major worldwide magazines, including Air Forces Monthly, Combat Aircraft, and many others, covering aviation, defense, war, industry, intelligence, crime and cyberwar. He has reported from the U.S., Europe, Australia and Syria, and flown several combat planes with different air forces. He is a former 2nd Lt. of the Italian Air Force, a private pilot and a graduate in Computer Engineering. He has written five books and contributed to many more ones.