When the aircraft rose above the clouds, Pat Taylor jumped.
He was 3km above the earth, and he was one of several community leaders tandem-jumping by parachute to raise money and awareness for the Graeme Dingle Foundation.
After falling through the clouds, which was "just awesome", the parachute opened, and Mr Taylor experienced the "amazing feeling" and "relief, to be honest" of landing on terra firma.
"It was absolutely brilliant," he said. "I thought I'd be nervous as hell - but I wasn't."
Eleven people were scheduled to jump yesterday for the charity event, called Drop Your Boss.