American Luke Aikins leapt into the void at 25,000 feet on Saturday (July 30) with no parachute or wingsuit, becoming the first skydiver to land safely on the ground in a net. During the 2-minute fall, he maneuvered himself and perfectly hit a giant 100-by-100-foot net set up at the Big Sky movie ranch in California’s Simi Valley.
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“This thing just happened!” he said, per the report.
Hmmm, still not sure we’ll be trying it ourselves any time soon though.
To loud cheers, he climbed out of the net and hugged his wife and young son. According to the Luke, the jump was incredible, he felt he was nearly levitating. And as he neared the ground, with a mere second to go, he expertly flipped onto his back and landed without incident. Then, the three accompanying skydivers opened their chutes and seemed to rise up away from Aikins, as he fell alone.
One of them was tasked with helping him remove the oxygen mask he had to wear for the first 10,000ft of the jump. “The guys wrapping me up and helping me do this, it was awesome”.
“They’re very similar to the lights that a pilot sees when landing a plane at an airport”, Talley said. Massive respect for the 42 year old who did what I probably wouldn’t do even if I had 42 lives.
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Luke Aikins is a skydiver who is a safety and training advisor for the United States Parachute Association, and who has performed stunts on films such as Iron Man 3. His family owns Skydive Kapowsin near Tacoma, Washington. He teaches advanced skydiving techniques to military Special Forces.
