Skydiving holds both excitement and risks. Safety factors such as thorough equipment checks, professional training, and ideal weather conditions can’t be neglected. However, an incident in 1988 shocked the world, when a parachutist jumped without a parachute.

As he leapt from the plane, excitement turned into horror. According to information available, Ivan McGuire, 35, jumped from an altitude of 10,500 feet with video equipment to film a student and an instructor from the Franklin County Sports Parachute Center.

As the thrilling free fall began, McGuire focused on recording his fellow jumper’s graceful descent, unaware of his perilous oversight. In a cruel twist of fate, the camera documented the last moments of Ivan’s life, forever etching his final jump into history.

No stranger to the skies, McGuire had completed over 800 jumps before this ill-fated event. “Oh my god, no!” were his last words. From the footage available, it is visible that he realized his parachute was missing. After the incident occurred, the Federal Aviation Administration conducted an investigation of his death to see if pilot Mark Luman had checked McGuire’s equipment.

“… there is a regulation, No. 105, that states that the pilot must check–well, no one may jump unless the pilot checks the parachutes,” FAA inspector Walter Rigsbee said. However, there is a possibility that the video equipment McGuire was carrying could have been mistaken for a parachute.

What happened to Ivan McGuire?

As per reports available, Ivan McGuire’s body was later found in the woods; about one and a half miles from the airfield he had taken off from. Foul play and suicide were ruled out during the investigation. It was concluded that he forgot his parachute.

Nancy Fayard, wife of the parachute center’s owner had said, “No one was aware that he got on the plane without a parachute. Of course, no one knew or they would have stopped him.”

In 2016, Luke Aikins did something similar; only difference was his actions were intentional. He jumped from a height of 25,000 feet (7,600 meters). After a two-minute long fall, he flipped on his back and landed in a 100-foot-by-100-foot (30 m by 30 m) net in Simi Valley, California.

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Aikins’ helmet gave him GPS alerts throughout the dive. He knew whether or not he was on course to find the giant net. He made maneuvers in the air to reach his target, which was the net.

“Instead of falling like an X … he brought his arms back along his body, and so we call that tracking, so it means that what he did there is he started to glide forward and direct himself to the center of the net,” said Jean Potvin, who is a professor of physics at the Parks College of Engineering, Aviation and Technology at Saint Louis University in Missouri.

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