DALLAS — Thousands of people celebrated the total solar eclipse on Monday afternoon, but 41 people picked a particularly special way to view the total solar eclipse -- while falling through the sky.
Over North Texas, 41 skydivers -- encompassing five tandem skydives and 26 experienced jumpers -- leaped from two aircraft at the start of totality -- as the moon completely blocked out the sun on Monday afternoon.
This project, put on by Skydive Spaceland Dallas, has been almost five years in the making, Spaceland Media Marketing's Cara Rosier said. It was first put on their radar following the popularity of the 2017 eclipse. They had set up a Facebook page for it in 2019 and began selling tickets to the event in January of this year.
"It was a coveted spot and at a premium," Rosier said.
There were some concerns about lighting, air traffic, and clouds, but Rosier said the clouds began busting open during the plane's climb.
"They were under the impression they were not going to be able to see, but during the jump run, the clouds were already well beyond them and they had a perfect visual of the drop zone and most of the climb was in light," Rosier said.
Just before they dropped, Rosier said it went drastically dark from the totality. Most of the divers were able to high pull, meaning they deployed their parachutes immediately after diving, while six experienced divers freefell and deployed their parachutes further down.
"It was incredibly successful and it was a work of modern nature with the planets and stars aligning alike to create this memorable moment," Rosier said.