It finally happened. After decades of taunting Iron Maiden crowds by swinging his guitar within arm's reach of fans, Janick Gers accidentally sent his guitar flying.

As is tradition, Maiden's six-stringer stood at the edge of the stage as the final moments of the the band's set-closing eponymous song rang out, swinging his guitar as it inched closer to orbit. Fans always think they'll be lucky enough to take home the rarest of souvenirs, but Gers always gets the best of them.

However, in San Antonio, Texas, on the tail of the band's "Legacy of the Beast" tour, the fans nearly notched a victory when the guitar freed itself from the binds of centrifugal force to the surprise of Gers, who quickly motioned for someone to recover the up-for-grabs instrument from the crowd.

The guitar, which was the highest-flying moment of the show aside from the replica Spitfire fighter plane that whips above the stage during "Aces High," was back within Gers' possession within seconds and we have a feeling he'll be double-checking the strap locks before he tempts the next legion of Maiden fans at the barrier.

Watch the clip below.

Let's be honest — he's not going to let this one incident stop him, and it shouldn't. While Iron Maiden bring plenty of spontaneity to a show, some elements of the concert are too classic to mess around with. It would be like if Steve Harris stopped doing the bass gun move, though he does raise an eyebrow at the way Gers handles his equipment.

"I don’t knock [my bass guitars] about like Janick knocks his guitars about. I treat mine a little more respectfully," Harris joked with Classic Rock in 2016 when asked if he's rough on his basses. "No disrespect to him," Harris continued, "but I’m not one to be throwing mine about or smashing them up or that sort of thing."

Janick Gers Sends Guitar Flying Into Iron Maiden Crowd