On Saturday, September 29th, 2012, history was made when Jetlev Southwest President Dean O'Malley successfully flew the Jetlev jetpack from Newport Beach to Catalina, establishing a world record for longest distance traveled by jetpack.
Here's the ABC Nightline segment that was aired on national TV on October 18th:
And here's the interview with Inside Edition on the beach after arriving in Avalon:
With sunny skies and warm weather, the flight began with no issue, but very quickly the conditions worsened and swells surged to 3-4 feet, with 15-20 knot cross winds. Top speeds were initially in the 10-15 knot range, but slowed to under 10 knots as the conditions got worse and worse.
About two hours into the flight, and 13 miles into the crossing, the Jetlev unit finally ran out of gas and O'Malley dropped into the water. Fortunately, a support dinghy with fuel cans was ready and waiting, so the "pit stop" to refuel was completed in less than 20 minutes, during which time the thought of sharks was in the back of everyone's minds.
Despite the conditions, the group pressed onward. After another hour and a half, the 18 gallons of gas that was added to the tank in the first refueling ran out and O'Malley once again dropped into the water, this time with Catalina Island only about six miles in the distance. Due to the issues with the support boats, the dinghies had split from the group, so the second refueling took over 30 minutes to complete, adding the last ten gallons of gas, which should've been more than enough to make the final push into Avalon.
With the Catalina Air Show in full swing, there were stunt planes doing maneuvers in the sky as O'Malley flew donut turns and high hovers around the harbor.
Finally, word was given that the press had gathered and it was time to come in for the official landing. After the last six miles to get to Catalina and the flying around the harbor, as O'Malley approached the beach, he ran out of gas a third time, literally just feet from the sand. Fortunately, he came down in waist deep water and was able to walk in the last few feet, but it was not quite the grand entrance he'd been hoping to make.

When it was all said and done, the flight, along with the refueling stops and hovering in Avalon Harbor, had taken over four hours and 50 gallons of gas, three support boats had been taken out of commission, due to a variety of issues, and several passengers on the support boats were hit with violent bouts of seasickness, but the official jetpack distance record had been set and it had been definitively proven that the crossing was possible.
Now it's up to the next adventurous individual to make the crossing faster or go even farther...
To see more coverage on the historic event, click the links below:
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