But skydiver Luke Aikins made history Saturday night by becoming the first person to do just that, successfully landing in a giant net far below.
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His goal? Jump out of a plane at 25,000 feet with just the clothes on his back and land safely in a net.
He fell for about two minutes, then flipped onto his back at the last second and landed perfectly to cheers from those gathered to watch.
“I’m nearly levitating, it’s incredible”, the jubilant skydiver said, raising his hands over his head as his wife held their son, who dozed in her arms.
Aikins, 42, begun the jump flanked by three fellow skydivers who accompanied him until they peeled off to pull their chutes at 5,000ft.
“Aikins’ leap represents the culmination of a 26-year career that will set a personal and world record for the highest jump without a parachute or wing suit”, his spokesman Justin Aclin said. One of them was holding a camera, another was releasing smoke so the people on the ground could follow his descent while the third was carrying canned oxygen. On the flight to his drop altitude, he was told that he could jump without it.
“They’re very similar to the lights that a pilot sees when landing a plane at an airport”, said Talley. He has made over 18,000 jumps – but never one quite like this. The family owns Skydive Kapowsin near Tacoma, Wash.
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Aikins, who is a safety and training adviser for the US Parachute Association, said his friend came up with the idea two years ago. He has done stunts for the superhero film Ironman 3 and taught soldiers advanced skydiving tactics.
