To accomplish this feat, Aikins had to direct his body in free fall using only the air currents around him to land safely on the high-tech 10,000-square-foot net laid out to catch him.
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When asked afterwards how he felt, he said: “I’m nearly levitating”.
In a live broadcast from the plane he’ll jump from Aikins says wearing a parachute will make the jump more risky because he’ll have its canister on his back when he hits the net at about 120 miles per hour.
Aikins prepared for the jump dozens of times before the actual stunt but always with a parachute and opening it at the last possible moment. While those black-clad companions pulled their ripcords and slowed their roaring descents to a slow drift, Aikins plunged on.
Aikins thus, made history, becoming the first person to leap without a parachute and land in a net instead.
Pro skydiver Luke Aikins successfully completed an insane stunt on Saturday for a Fox TV special.
He also admitted that he had almost had to cancel the jump because he was ordered to wear a parachute for safety and this would have made his landing more risky because of the extra weight.
He was accompanied by other divers on the way down, including one who collected Aikins’ oxygen mask after he’d fallen far enough for it to no longer be necessary.
His wife and four-year-old son were there to greet him once he reached the ground safely.
Aikins said that he’d been preparing for this jump for two years, and that he’s been skydiving since he was 16 years old.
“We’d been seeking an agreement and they wouldn’t allow us to sign one”, said a source connected with the show. He’s been racking them up at several hundred a year ever since.
Aikins, a self-described “member of the Red Bull Air Force, professional skydiver, BASE jumper, stuntman, pilot …”
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His wife is a skydiver and his family owns a skydiving outfit in the state of Washington.
