Mysuru MP Pratap Simha on Monday took a daring jump from a height of about 13,000 feet as part of his maiden sky diving at the Mysuru airport.

“When I boarded the four-seater Cessna aircraft and reached the desired height for the jump, it was a bit scary. But, when I took the plunge and floated in the air, it turned out to be my lifetime experience. The dive was beyond belief and enormously thrilling,” the BJP MP told The Hindu, after the dive.

This was the 38-year-old first-time MP’s maiden attempt in sky diving. Accompanied by an instructor from the United States, Mr. Simha took the jump, which was conducted by Su Kakini Enterprises Private Limited, the country’s only certified agency for sky diving.

The agency is holding sky diving at the airport since April this year.

Incidentally, Mr. Simha is one of the few MPs in the country to perform sky diving. “I am the first MP in the 16th Lok Sabha to perform this adventure,” he claimed.

Mr. Simha jumped from the sky around 8:45 am and was airborne for over 10-15 minutes before reaching the ground. “I was falling at a speed of 220 km but never felt it,” he said.

With Mysuru possessing ideal weather, the MP said efforts will be made to promote Mysuru as a sky diving hub and thereby boost tourism in a big way.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Karnataka / by Shankar Bennur / Mysuru – September 28th, 2015