A skydiver jumped out of a plane at 25,000 feet without parachute — and survived

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. Last night, he became the first person to jump out of an airplane without a parachute or wing suit and survive the landing.

The stunt is nothing short of amazing: leap out of an airplane at 25,000 feet (most skydivers jump at around 13,000 feet) without any sort of parachute or wing suit to slow his fall. To survive, he dropped into a 10,000 square foot net only a third the size of a football field. On top of all that, the entire jump was shown live.

Aikins was assisted by three fellow skydivers and a GPS unit to help guide him to the net in the California desert. Just before he hit the net, he flipped onto his back and landed safely.

Aikins had previously been ordered to wear a parachute, but had indicated that he wouldn’t open it on the drop. On the flight to his drop altitude, he was told that he could jump without it.