A skydiver in the United States has made history by jumping from a plane without a parachute to land in a net.
Advertisement
Luke Aikins, who has in excess of 18,000 jumps to his name, performed the jump on Saturday.
“Whenever people attempt to push the limits of what’s considered humanly possible, they’re invariably described as insane”, Aikins was quoted as saying by The Mirror.
Aikins jumped off the plane at 25,000 feet altitude without any parachute.
When asked afterwards how he felt, he said: “I’m nearly levitating”.
Yet after the terrifying descent, Luke Aikins smiled and waved as he emerged from the ordeal without a scratch. “I can’t even get the words out of my mouth”, he said, admitting that he was nervous beforehand.
A stuntman has fallen 25,000ft from a plane to the ground without wearing a parachute, landing in a net at 120mph.
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.
However, the organisers lifted the ban just minutes before the jump.
Moments before he reached the safety net, he flipped onto his back to land in the right position..
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. He jumped from a small propeller above Simi Valley and became the first person in the world to have done that.
But professional stunt performer Luke Aikins chose to perform such a feat on Saturday, calling the stunt “Heaven Sent”. He is married to Monica Lee Aikins who has already made 2,000 jumps. The family owns Skydive Kapowsin near Tacoma, Wash.
Advertisement
Aikins says he heard from the Screen Actors Guild that the jump couldn’t go on unless he wore a parachute.
