Wingsuit landing without deploying a parachute – Gary Connery


A stuntman has made aviation history by becoming the first skydiver in the world to land without the use of a parachute.

Gary Connery, 42, from Oxfordshire, leapt from a helicopter a mile above Henley then glided down using a specially adapted wing suit before landing on a “runway” of 18,000 cardboard boxes.

“It was so comfortable, so soft. My calculations obviously worked out and I’m glad they did,” he told Sky News afterwards.

His wife Vivian said she was “relieved its all over”.

To prepare for the jump he underwent weeks of intensive training in Switzerland and Italy, leaping from mountains and cliffs to perfect his wing suit glide angle.

As part of the preparations, Mr Connery studied the flight of kite birds and how they use their tail to control their flight direction.

“Kites steer by twisting their tail one way or another and I’ll be doing the same,” he explained before the jump.

Gary Connery

Mr Connery made his first parachute jump aged 23 after joining the Army.

He went on to become a professional stuntman, completing 880 skydives and 450 base jumps.

He has acted as stunt-double for the likes of Gary Oldman, John Hurt and Rowan Atkinson and appeared in films such as The Beach, Die Another Day, Batman Begins and Indiana Jones.

He also leapt from the Eiffel Tower, Nelson’s Column, Tower Bridge and the London Eye.

“This stunt will get great recognition and will be a post in the runway of aviation history,” Mr Connery said beforehand.

“I’m sure plenty of people will think I’m bonkers but that’s OK, I take that as a compliment.”

Landing a wing suit without a parachute has been a dream of skydivers since the modern wing suit was invented in 1997 by French skydiver and aristocrat Patrick De Gayardon.

The unique design of his suit enabled “pilots” to barrel-roll, swoop and fly in formation.

Tragically, Mr De Gayardon died a year later in a skydiving accident in Hawaii after a modification to his suit caused his parachute to malfunction.

US skydiver Jeb Corliss planned to become the first to land a wing suit without a parachute but his plans were suspended after he was seriously injured during a recent jump in South Africa.

158 thoughts on “Wingsuit landing without deploying a parachute – Gary Connery
  1. And why didn’t he just fire his retrorockets?

  2. not sure how the wing suits work, but could you control it and pitch yourself up a bit to catch air and keep you about the same height but more surface area allows you to be slowed down to a point that you could land on your feet? kind of like flaps then stalling at the endย 

  3. Thinning the herd. This is great , needs further refinement though.

  4. Wrong! excellent BBC Documentary a few years back of an RAF bomber crewman who bailed out over Germany without a parachute (it was burnt to pieces) fell into trees and snow and was found alive and taken to a POW camp.
    Don’t get me wrong, your video is cool as f*ckย 

  5. They were cheering and he never got up… wtf

  6. Major abrasion in the genital area and face!

  7. Wow so lucky those boxes were there!

  8. Omg lol white people are crazy

  9. Idiots…risking their lives over nothing.

  10. Now that’s what I call a jumpsuit!

  11. You forgot to mention there are about 85,000 perforated cardboard boxes to land on and not the ground :p

  12. Did he died?

  13. Not really a landing though is it. More of a slowly arrested crash.

  14. Mackabee Bossington

    R.I.P.? No “Tada”! Why were the cheers so faint? Man pulls a stunt like that, and no one there to fish him out. Ha!

  15. 0:32 BATMAN

  16. tomlinsondavid2011

    The guy in the scaffolding is a lazy piece of shit. Get off your ass and see if he’s ok!

  17. Try it without the boxes. ๐Ÿ˜›

  18. What if right before he landed a gust of wind blew all the boxes out of the way

  19. aua must be hurtfull, crazy guy but for sure no puppy.

  20. what if he missed the boxes ?

  21. Seems fake. No one rushes to see if he’s ok. Odd cheering sounds, which do not sound like they are apart of the original audio. Shitty camera angles for a huge event that should have drawn a massive crowd.ย  Why would anyone believe this is real. Besides the video, which could have been edited to make it look this way, what else is there to prove this is real?

  22. “the first skydiver in the world to land without the use of a parachute”

    To be fair, there were others before him to land without the use of a parachute. His was just the first to do it by design.

  23. foam ‘rocks’ would be cool

  24. still, ouch.

  25. Any updates onย US skydiver Jeb Corliss after his serious injury? Is he still able to skydive in a wing suit? These people have tremendous courage!

  26. He never rose after he landed…

  27. That’s a good way to get a paper cut my friend.

  28. Free rides for gas money

    Eventually I believe they’ll come up with a suit that flares out on command & gives you that 2 to 3 second window needed to slow down dramatically & walk away, if you miss that window “well”- different story then

  29. 20,000 boxes are pretty much the same as a parachute.

  30. American Born Patriot.

    Bah. ย Do it without the boxes.

  31. That had to hurt.

  32. Fuckin’ genius.

  33. pnutbutrncrackers

    I just wish the onlooker on the scaffolding had been able to contain his emotions a little better.

  34. fake ass shit, so i can land without a parachute all i need is a ups warehouse to drop on

  35. the Annuity Slayer

    He landed but did he survive?

  36. Notice he did not get up after landing hmmmmmm?

  37. Please elaborate your physics equation on drag, height dropped (altitude), expected distance (forward X direction from x-not). I’d like to see it and how you figured out your drag coefficient — forward-tail-end drag and upward-y-direction-drag for calculation time for y-not to y-land. Did you experiment to calculate before jump? It would be really cool to see. Thanks!

  38. Wortendyke Railfan

    Who the hell has these many boxes laying around…..

  39. Everyone is applausing him before they know if he died or not lol.

  40. so is the flying squirrel ok?

  41. This is an insult to the homeless community.

  42. He died. RIP

  43. check out my skydiving blog
    theskydivedream.com
    or follow on twitter @theskydivedream

  44. the fuck is that, anyone can glide like that and land on boxes, waste of time, now he the diver landed without the boxes and landed on his feet perfectly fine that is something to brag about, for that move, come in slow and when you are low enough pull back while throwing your feet in front of you and closing your arms, if you time it right you and and may need to land running if you are too fast

  45. This video should be edited to show Phil Dunphy jumping up from the boxes at the end and shouting: “I’m ok….I’m ok…..Claire….! Honey…! I told you I could do it!” before cutting to Cam and Mitchell, both wearing “He’s such a dumbass” faces as they look into the camera..

  46. The guys isn’t coming out, and they cheer. i’d have waited. ๐Ÿ™‚

  47. ha

    i jumped off the international space station onto a marshmallow

    blindfolded

  48. I’m guessing that they are probably empty Red Bull cartons… that’s why they were cheering! Free Red Bulls for EVERYONE!

  49. Holy Shite. That is insane.

  50. They used the packaging that came when he ordered a thumb drive from Amazon

  51. This may be the most ballsy yet fucking retarded thing I have ever seen.

  52. Fake and gay

  53. thats not landing, thats crashing with style

  54. So what did we learn? If you ever accidentally fall out of the sky, aim for the boxes!

  55. It is not just about adrenaline, but also advancing man’s knowledge.

  56. fake

  57. Oh, that’s the late Gary Connery, who died just a year later when his parachute malfunctioned.

  58. Okay, that was still a very hard landing. The edges and corners of big cardboard boxes aren’t soft either.

  59. I did not see anyone landing without a chute…total bust !

  60. So to beat this record the next guy is going to have to juggle some kittens on the way down shoot them through a hoop and land on a matchbox whilst blind folded and signing “I believe I can fly”. Sponsored by Redbull, of course.

  61. as long as he doens’t end up in a box 6 feet under i’d call it good

  62. I told him he’s end up in a box if he went through with this

  63. Did he come out of the boxes or just die in there.

  64. Bet that hurt like a bitch. I’ve fallen onto packing boxes like that… from a speed of 1.5 MPH and a height of 6 feet (my height.)

  65. this way they can just ship all his body parts back to his wife with no mess!

  66. After landing safely, the stuntman had lunch at Jack In The Box.

  67. this isnt reeeeaalll

  68. sei un vero imbecille complimenti

  69. absolutely pointless….unless u got people laying boxes for you everywhere u wish to land.

  70. Great stunt and one step closer to gliding landings.

  71. What happens to all that cardboard? These extreme sports seem to be very wasteful.

  72. Wielki powrรณt Hanki Mostowiak!!! ๐Ÿ™‚

  73. Scientifically impossible landing on the ground unless you use something protecting like this packages. Example if you bush a wall it is bushes you back as harder you bush as same the harder you hit the ground it hits you back sorry about the poor english

  74. is cardboard really the best material they could have used? it makes sense, but what about pillows, memory foam, inflatable bags

  75. I think would be better if he use parachute there are ofly so many cartoon boxes .

  76. Plenty of skydivers have landed without using a parachute…

    Just they don’t usually live, at least for long or very well.

  77. um where did the other guy land?

  78. Does anyone know what game this reminds me of? First person to get it gets a FREE Lennypede.

  79. think outside the box

  80. So sad that he broke his neck when he jumped down from those boxes though…

  81. i would try to end the flight with a frontflip and go feet first and a hell of a diagonal.

  82. Free Steam games: http://getsteamgift.org 116528 people already got their gift cards!

  83. DID HE DIED?

  84. I’d have been really impressed if he’d landed on his feet and not something designed to withstand a major crash.

  85. What a cheat, he didn’t “land” he boxed. How can this be considered “landing”?

  86. SassyHershsey SassyHershey

    What a fraud. But it’s UTUBE – typical bait and switch “Title”

  87. so, he didnt land. he crashed into boxes. imagine the fucking paper cuts!

  88. not painful?

  89. Fake

  90. Think he landed in another field ?

  91. Frankieon10spliffsofweed

    Kids in Africa could have eaten them boxes.smh

  92. Best idea ever!

  93. Ha ha ,cool

  94. Aviation Technology Space Channel

    You have to be a brave man for this

  95. Thought wingsuits were a myth

  96. What a way to die.

  97. .dead..

  98. “A stuntman has made aviation history by becoming the first skydiver in the world to land without the use of a parachute.” Not so. He is the first-ever to do so, while remaining alive! Remember that bit, “alive.”

  99. and he was never seen again

  100. I never understood using cardboard boxes for this sort of thing. Like that’s the softest thing available, lol

  101. wingsuit landing on water: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2xmAWS4akE

    ๐Ÿ˜€

  102. They need to edit their description of the video. I’m sure there are plenty of skydivers who landed without the use of a parachute. They didn’t survive.. but they did it.

  103. we cheer..but when u die we don’t care..

  104. People who seek death will find it.

  105. All the boxes were filled with engine blocks!

  106. fake

  107. Fake a wing suiters go way faster than that

  108. so in other words IF they constructed a special permanent landing strip…like out of synthetics that could last for a while, wingsuit fliers COULD be flying and LANDING daily or regularly without a parachute! ?? How about a BIG flat giant velcro pad suspended with cushions over a trolley system? Wingsuit flier simply lands on THAT and his or her velcro suit grabs hold as the platform luches ahead on its tracks! OR something with a downward slope that mimics landing on the side of steep mountainside covered with snow? HAS to be a way to set something up! How about involving computers robotic driven landing vehicles and a big open flat area…the computer driven flat carts plot your impact site complete with speed and angle of descent and it races to meet you there going EXACTLY the right speed and being in EXACTLY the correct place plus or minus a couple inches! …huh?? huh??? you like?? Yes YOU LIKE!!!

  109. The big DUHHH I can not believe SOMEONE is not playing with yet? A wingsuit married to robotic exoskeleton! Even if gave very limited amount of minutes of operation from battery pack. I think there HAS TO be a formulated plan that someone COULD work up to where that mechanical advantage allows a person to land without cardboard boxes or water or powdered mountainside…Watch a bird of prey land! There is not much flapping involved, just the strength to HOLD those wings up against all that air! Wimpy human arms are of course incapable, but add the POWER of robotics? And it IS doable…OF COURSE it is! I am guessing there is plenty of power available for other flight assistance BESIDES landing as well! Maybe it does not really take THAT much power to sustain 50% more lift surface of bigger wings!? How much difference would FIFTY PERCENT improvement give you guys??? IF THAT is totally doable? And IF there is a system that accurately monitors available power?…even a whole separate “landing battery”? Maybe ratcheting pivot point locks that will hold wing deployment EVEN when there is zero power available to adjust via power? I am not a pilot or skydiver or anything that qualifies me past my limited mechanical knowledge (more knowledge of the electrical side and what THAT is capable of!) Maybe there would need to be some kind of emergency system to make adjustments to wings TOO LARGE for just the human arms to handle without help…maybe it would be slow to deploy such? But I am assuming one has time to graduate adjustments via a cable operated ratcheting lever squeeze by hand? One hand does one and the other the other? a thumb toggles direction of each if you can picture that? Like to lift or twist (however it is engineered) the right wing, the thumb toggles up or down or retract or extend or twist untwist…then the lever like a motorcycle clutch lever is pumped with so many ratcheting clicks per squeeze as it pulls the stainless steel braided cable…(MIGHT use hydraulics even? But the mechanical ratchet would marry more easily to the electric motor I THINK) MAYBE the the electric motor only need be used for take off assist, some major course or altitude adjustments on a given flight plan, and then of course especially at landing time…maybe everything else pretty much could be handled by by very minor ratcheted adjustments???? Does ANY of this sound like anything that could make sense and work??? i want to see BIGGER wings, MORE la bird or bat’s wings in relation to the body size!…as is you guys are not even to the flying squirrel ration it seems like to me…it is amazing how much you are getting out of so little, but really, I think it is TIME for the next step! Electromechanical assisted BIGGER badder wing suits!! …anyone hear me??? lol

  110. If you liked this, I have a substantially more aggressive take on a no
    parachute jump. Check out this event we put together that’s happening on
    July 30th: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnvbNwytiO4

  111. that’s a bad time for an absence seizure I reckon

  112. They should have had ACME printed on all of the boxes and Connery should have been wearing a wingsuit inspired by Wyle E. Coyote complete with tail.

  113. Oh he broke something alright! !.

  114. No Parachute at 25,000 feet. Into a net.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaANi96Z-Wg&feature=youtu.be

  115. thought he would land downhill on roller blades or something

  116. This isn’t flying… This is how you fall with style

  117. so i guess this one is real and the one of the guy landing on the water is baloney to sell some skin product?

  118. Splat

  119. Did he dead?

  120. Why not get close to the ground and stall that would slow you enough to land on concrete and be unhurt

  121. To infinity and beyond!

  122. Previously on Mr. Big Balls…

  123. After all that, they are going to leave us guessing what happened? WTF Yes he landed without deploying his chute but what happened to the person? Did we just watch someone die? If so, I’m pissed off at this video.

  124. So you’re saying my idea of jumping off a building in midtown manhattan is going to hurt?

  125. Squirrel suit water landing

  126. I didn’t see him stand up after his landing ๐Ÿ™

  127. not the first to land without a chute…..every things lands eventually…
    But the guy lived….thats the first.

  128. With all those boxes, they had a place to put the pieces if things didn’t go right…

  129. he is going to work.
    he is working in a packaging company

  130. Snake would be proud… is there anything cardboard boxes can’t do?

  131. They should of had the boxes on fire.

  132. He got cardboard in his ass crack

  133. It was nice. He landed right in the box and they taped it up and shipped it to the morgue.

  134. He should of had 2 Parachutes, To carry each of his Balls.

  135. Is he dead? What are those giant empty boxes he landed on?

  136. Not impressed till it’s done on the ground lame

  137. BEST Cartoons For Kids

    I’ve never been so board…

  138. Meh… we’re not talking about landing on a few boxes like ten.

  139. William Guy Thilgen Jr.

    OK, a pilot will state that any landing one can walk away from is a good landing. Thus his ability to walk away consitutes a landing. Anyone older than a millennial will state he didn’t land, he crashed.

  140. ะั€ั‚ัƒั€ ะะฒั‚ัƒั…

    crazy…

  141. Adolf Hitler Greatest Leader

    What if We Placed REAL BRICKS Instead of BOX. That Would be HALLOWEEN in STYLE.

  142. People have jumped out of airplanes and landed without deploying parachutes because the parachutes malfunctioned. At least one of those people survived.

  143. Thats not flying, thats falling, with style.

  144. love his thought just before the jump “parachutes are for wimps” and just as he left plane ” OH crap i forgot the milk tray”

  145. Damn that papercut!

  146. its fake

  147. For his next death defying stunt he will land in a pool of left over muffins donated by our sponsors at Goodwill

  148. Pppffffftttttt. yeah right, now try that at 35,000 feet

  149. _”I studied the flight of kite birds and then jumped out of a helicopter”_ WTF?!?!?!

  150. WTF , so weres da landing , watched it 3 times an NEVER saw him fly , only falling , an never saw him landing or even in the same frame as da boxes ? !?!?!?!?!?!?

  151. Looks more like a “controlled” face-plant into some stacked cardboard boxes! A real landing would been if he landed upright on his feet.

  152. Death by paper cuts.

  153. id have done it without a wing suit ๐Ÿ˜€

  154. He landed on his gigantic balls and was unharmed.

  155. GAY!!!

  156. What was being hidden by the wall??? What was the guy on the scafold doing? Not a clear video raises more questions than it answers.

  157. Well…that muthafuckas dead

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