Aikins initially wore a parachute for precautionary measures, and right before the jump he decided otherwise saying, “the need to wear a parachute would have made the jump more risky because of the need to adjust his position as he approached the net” he told The Telegraph.
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Aikins managed to complete the jump unharmed by using air currents to direct his body in a free fall to land safely on a high-tech 10,000-square-foot net laid out to catch him.
With a successful jump and new record under his belt, Aikins climbed out of the net and embraced his wife, Monica, their 4-year-old son, Aikins’ dad, two brothers and a sister, as a crowd of cheering supporters welcomed him back to Earth. As the plane was climbing to 25,000 feet above the drop zone he said the requirement had been lifted and he took off the chute.
It’s estimated Aikins hit the net at between 120 and 150 miles per hour.
“This thing just happened! I can’t even get the words out of my mouth”.
If he had had to wear it, he said, he wouldn’t bother to pull the ripcord anyway.
“I’m going all the way to the net, no question about it”, he said from the plane. His profile on the Facebook account says he is a member of the Red Bull Air Force, a professional skydiver, BASE jumper, Hollywood stuntman, airplane and helicopter pilot and an aviation expert.
A USA skydiver and adrenaline junkie, Luke Aikins, has become the first person to jump out of a plane and land without a parachute. Around 18,000 feet, he removed his oxygen mask and passed it to one of the three parachuted assistants diving with him.
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The 42-year-old performed the stunt with no mishaps landing nearly in the middle of the safety net. He’s been racking them up at several hundred a year ever since. His father and grandfather both were acclaimed skydivers. The family owns Skydive Kapowsin near Tacoma, Wash.
