Carlsbad resident Glenn Quillin turned 100 this week. To celebrate, he surprised his family by jumping out of an airplane.
Quillin said he had been thinking about skydiving for a long time.
"So I thought, if you're ever going to do it, you better do it now," he said. "This was a tandem jump, my instructor prepared me well. When the time came, I stood there and we leaned forward and we were in free fall. We reached speeds of 120 miles per hour in the descent. And then we enjoyed the scenery. It was a fantastic flight."
Quillen made the jump Sunday with an instructor from Skydive San Diego in Jamul. His grandson also jumped out of a plane that day.
This wasn't the first time Quillin had jumped out of an airplane. When he was younger he said he had to parachute out of a plane after the engine quit.
Quillin lives in the retirement community Carlsbad by the Sea, and said he often gets asked his secret to living a long life.
"It's a matter of attitude," he said. "Your attitude towards your life, your family, your job and just keep a positive outlook and don't look back."
As for how he plans to mark his 101st birthday, Quillin said, he's up for jumping out of a plane, again.
