After a two-minute freefall, Aikins landed in a 100-foot by 100-foot net at the Big Sky Movie Ranch on the outskirts of Simi Valley, California.
Advertisement
On Saturday, Luke Aikins became the first person to skydive without a parachute – from nearly twice the altitude of regular skydiving – landing instead on a giant net.
After a free-fall lasting about two minutes, Aikins at the last second flipped onto his back and hit the net, which Aclin said was suspended 200 feet (61 meters) above ground with a secondary net below it.
“I’m nearly levitating. It’s incredible”, the jubilant skydiver said, raising his hands over his head as his wife held their son, who dozed in her arms. “This thing just happened!” He then thanked the crew members who helped him prepare for the jump, which was two years in the making, and later posted a message to his Facebook page expressing gratitude for the support he received. Aikins had none of those support systems.
Adding to the drama of the event, the Screen Actors Guild unexpectedly mandated Aikins wear a parachute as he was boarding the plane, the Associated Press reports, insisting the stunt was otherwise too unsafe. He nearly called off the jump at that point, claiming that wearing a chute would have actually made the jump more unsafe, but the Guild ultimately relented and the dive went on as originally scheduled.
Advertisement
Crazy? Yes. But it also set a record, as Aikins became the first skydiver to make a leap from that high without a chute. One had a camera, another trailed smoke so people on the ground could follow his descent and the third took an oxygen canister he handed off after they got to an altitude where it was no longer needed.
