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See a daring skydiver parachute from a massive drone

It takes a big drone to haul a person into the air and it takes a brave person to get on board and jump off with a parachute.

Amanda Kooser
Freelance writer Amanda C. Kooser covers gadgets and tech news with a twist for CNET. When not wallowing in weird gear and iPad apps for cats, she can be found tinkering with her 1956 DeSoto.
Amanda Kooser

Latvian drone maker Aerones isn't content to just let its machines carry cameras around. It wants to carry people ... and then drop them from great heights. Aerones posted a video on Friday showing what it calls "the world's first human flight with the drone and jump at high altitude."

The high-powered drone launched from ground level and rose to the top of a communications tower to pick up skydiver Ingus Augstkalns. It took him to a height of around 1,080 feet (330 meters), where Augstkalns let go of the handle, deployed his parachute and safely returned to the ground.

Aerones says the daring jump required six months of preparation focused on testing the drone to make sure it could safely carry Augstkalns' weight.

Aerones imagines a world full of drone-powered action sports, including droneboarding, which involves snowboarding with a drone dragging you along the powder. It has also experimented with using its heavy-duty flying machines to fight fires from the air.

Skydiving may be a new wrinkle when it comes to drones, but there have been some previous efforts to get people off the ground, including YouTube star Casey Neistat's airborne adventure in late 2016.

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