Luke Aikins successfully completed his record jump over California as he jumped from a plane at the height of 25,000 ft (7.62km) without a parachute or a wing-suit.
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Luke also revealed that on the day of his jump, which was aired on Live television, he was asked to wear a back-up chute but that he would have never opened it. That’s right, no parachute, no wingsuit and no fellow skydiver with an extra one to hand him in mid-air.
Throughout the entire free fall, Aikins appeared to be able to control his body effortlessly, with his arms and legs extended, face downward.
“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous”, Aikins told an interviewer on the Fox broadcast, before boarding a propeller plane to perform the jump.
The net that 42-year-old Mr Aikins landed in was just 100ft by 100ft.
The daredevil was wearing an oxygen mask because of the altitude and wore a green outfit as he jumped out of a propeller plane alongside three parachutists.
In this Monday, July 25, 2016 photo, skydiver Luke Aikins prepares his parachute during his training in Simi Valley, Calif.
The net, the production crew members had set up, was about one-third the size of a football field and 20 stories high. I can’t even get the words out of my mouth.
He was almost prevented from carrying out the stunt by his union the Screen Actors Guild, who were originally insisting he wore a parachute.
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. Just minutes before jump the host for the show relayed the news that the requirement had been lifted.
Talley, who’d worked with Aikins on other projects and was helping Amusement Park Entertainment pitch a show to Fox, said Aikins is the only skydiver he’s confident can actually pull this off.
Back on the ground, with his wife and family, he seemed stunned at his own bit of history-making.
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Further to his credit, Aiken is a safety and training advisor for the United States Parachute Association (USPA) where he provides advanced skydiving training to elite military Special Forces.
