Skydiver Luke Aikins Makes Jump Without A Parachute

A daredevil skydiver on Saturday became the first to jump from a height of 25,000 feet (7,620 meters) without a parachute, landing in a net in southern California, a spokesman said.

Luke Aikins, 42, who has 18,000 jumps under his belt, completed the jump in Simi Valley, landing in a net measuring 100 feet by 100 feet (30 meters by 30 meters) in a feat broadcast on Fox.

“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 in an email.

Lights were set along the side of the net to serve as a guide for Aikins to aim himself as he hurtled toward it.

“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.

(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Kim Coghill)