Argentine makes parachute jump at 90

Buenos Aires, Aug 19 (IANS/EFE) Carlos Roque Beltran, an original member of the Argentine army’s oldest paratrooper unit, decided to celebrate his 90th birthday by parachuting from a plane at an altitude of almost 1,000 metres.

“It was a stupendous and marvellous day,” Beltran told EFE Tuesday, the day after he accomplished the feat, adding that he had made more than 1,200 parachute jumps in his life both in the army and as a civilian.

Beltran decided to make the jump Monday out of what he called a “spiritual need” to celebrate his 90 years on the planet but also in honour of the bicentennial of the start of Argentina’s struggle for independence.

The elderly adventurer said he felt the “same feelings of emotion” as when he made his first jump in 1944 after he joined the Argentine army’s first paratrooper unit.

Beltran was a paratrooper in the Argentine army from 1944 to 1952, when he began to work as an instructor. In all, he made about 580 jumps while in the army and another 650 as a civilian.

Despite having gotten a doctor’s authorisation to make his latest jump, Beltran admitted having felt “great anticipation and doubts” about his ability to handle the exploit.

He made his jump, however, without any complications and, as he safely touched down, he was greeted by his wife, his four children, 12 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.

The intrepid man said he wouldn’t rule out making another jump next year, although “it all depends on my health”.

–IANS/EFE