Luke Aikins
American stunt performer and skydiver (born 1973)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Luke Aikins (born November 21, 1973)[1] is an American professional skydiver, BASE jumper, pilot, and aerial photographer. He is the first person to intentionally dive from mid-tropospheric altitude and land safely without a parachute or a wingsuit and the second skydiver to intentionally jump and safely land without using a parachute.[4][5][6]
Sky diving
Aikins has coached United States Navy SEALs and NASCAR's Brian Vickers, and has advised the military on skydiving techniques.[8][9] He is also a safety and training advisor for the United States Parachute Association.[9][10] He is also an aerial photographer and his photos have been published in major magazines and newspapers.[1] He has completed more than 18,000 jumps since he started skydiving at age 12.[11]
In 2012, he helped skydiver Felix Baumgartner jump from a helium balloon in the stratosphere at 120,000 feet (36,576 m).[12][13] Aikins also worked on stunts in the film Iron Man 3.[14]
In 2020, he helped David Blaine with his Ascension stunt.
July 2016 jump
| External videos | |
|---|---|
 Heaven Sent Stride Gum Presents Heaven Sent: A Mad Intense Jump | |
| Local news interview Luke Aikins 25,000-Foot Freefall[15] |
On July 30, 2016, Aikins jumped from an aircraft without any parachute or wingsuit at an altitude of 25,000 feet (7,620 m) above Simi Valley, California, watched by a live audience. After about two minutes of free fall he successfully landed in a 100-by-100-foot (30 by 30 m) net just outside of Simi Valley, California.[4][16] Aikins reached a terminal velocity of 120 miles per hour (193 km/h) during the fall.[14] The net was made from Spectra, a high-density polyethylene cord.[17] It had four compressed air cylinders designed to gently slow him down after impact.[17] The first skydiver to intentionally jump and land without using a parachute was Gary Connery in 2012 who wore a wingsuit to aid his landing.[18]
Although several news articles headlines describe Aikins' achievement by focusing on the fact that he jumped and went to freefall without parachute, many others have jumped from aircraft without having a parachute when they departed the plane—they were either handed a parachute by a fellow jumper while in freefall or maneuvered to a container carrying a parachute, with first successes dating back to 1965.[19] Others have jumped out of an aircraft and returned to the same or another aircraft without making use of parachute.[20][21]
Red Bull plane-swap stunt crash
On April 24, 2022, during the highly publicized stunt staged as a Hulu On-Demand special event, he and his cousin Andy Farrington attempted and failed to swap planes mid air, resulting in the total loss of one plane.[22]
Aikins and Farrington had been denied permission to undertake the stunt by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), and subsequently had their pilot licenses revoked by the FAA.[23]