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First ever parachutist jump from heavy lift drone pulled off in Latvia

Xinhua, May 12, 2017 Adjust font size:

A Latvian team of engineers and a parachutist have pulled off the first ever jump from a heavy lift drone, Apollo.lv news website reported on Friday.

The 28-engine drone created by Latvian company Aerones took the parachutist to a 330-meter altitude for his skydive.

Aerones representatives told Apollo.lv that the successful experiment proved the reliability and robust payload of the drone technology which in the future could be used for a broad range of purposes like rescue operations, firefighting, transportation, sports and entertainment.

Ingus Augtkalns, a skydiver and the author of the project's idea, said he felt fantastic as the unmanned aircraft was lifting him up quickly and effortlessly. "It is clear that we will see drones being increasingly used in our day-to-day life," he said.

"Already in a near future our technology will be saving people's lives, helping extinguish fires and performing other challenging and important jobs. With this project, we demonstrate our readiness for serious work and sport missions," said Aerones chief engineer and the drone's controller Janis Putrams.

The jump from the drone took place in the central Latvian district of Amata on Friday, May 12 in cooperation with the Latvian State Radio and Television Center which provided its 120-meters tall communications tower as a platform from which the drone lifted the skydiver to the planned altitude.

Aerones is a Latvian drone technology company focusing on the development of large heavy lift drones. Endit