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A First: Jet Pack Pilot Rockets Out Of The Water

LAKE CITY, Colo. (CBS4) - A Guinness World Record holder took off from under the surface of a Colorado lake for a daring stunt on Tuesday.

Fifty-two-year-old jet pack pilot Eric Scott performed the watery launch at Lake San Cristobal, near Lake City and east of Telluride.

"It really took off nice out of the water. You can feel the kick a lot harder in of the water because it actually pushes against something," Scott said.

It's an extreme stunt the world has never seen before. After launching from underneath the lake's surface, Scott flew across the lake to a pre-planned landing spot on the shore.

"(We) really never know for sure if it's going to work," Scott's partner and fellow pilot Nick Macomber said.

lake
(credit: CBS)

The pilots are no stranger to extreme stunts and hold several world records for the sport of jet pack launching. Back in 2015, Macomber circled the 45th floor of the Four Seasons hotel in downtown Denver. In April of this year, he was taken to the hospital with burns and head injuries after crashing in Denver during a test flight.

This stunt, however, was 15 years in the making. Done in part to advertise Apollo Energy Gum, the morning flight pushed the limits of an extreme sport with a backdrop only Colorado could provide.

stunt
(credit: CBS)

"Water and land and air, how it combines. It was ... really cool to come out of the water," Macomber said.

The extreme athletes are already planning their next big stunt.

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