Brave nonagenarian celebrates turning 90 by jumping out of plane

By Charlie Fenton

A fearless OAP undertook a daring skydive from 15,000 feet, which was a surprise 90th birthday present.

Malcolm Hough, was given the gift by his grandsons Tom Davitt, 42, and Ben Davitt, 40, after discussing the idea at a family gathering early last year.

Malcolm took the leap of faith and free-fell over 9,000 feet before the parachute was pulled and he landed safely.

He said: “It was absolutely fantastic - I still can't believe I did it - I can’t stop looking at the photos."

The grandad received the gift when celebrating his birthday in October last year - Tom revealed he was "absolutely elated".

Tom said: "He was just non-stop smiles - he loved it."

"He's wanted to do it for ages so we said let's do it for your 90th birthday."

But Tom said that not everyone was happy with the gift.

He said: "From my mum's point of view, if anything happened, she would've lost her two sons, and her dad, so she was quite emotional."

Malcolm, of Huntington, in York, was supposed to jump a week after receiving the gift but the wind was out of the safety limit,t meaning it had to be rescheduled for April 2025.

Malcolm was also joined by his daughter’s partner Keith.

When they arrived at Hibaldstow Airfield in Lincolnshire, Tom revealed Maclom had his poker face on.

He said: "He's pretty staunch is my grandad, so if he was nervous, he didn't show it.

"Everyone was excited, there was a lot of waiting around because we had to make sure there was enough wind for him to land okay before we set off.

"He [Malcolm] had to go through a pretty rigorous medical check, but there's no upper age limit on skydiving."

From taking off to landing, Malcolm's journey lasted about 25 minutes which included a 9,000 feet freefall before the parachute opened.

Tom has said that since the experience Malcolm has talked about it every time he has rung him, saying his grandad "absolutely loved it."

"To do something like that with him was just amazing, I still can't believe we did it."