Skydiver jumped from 25,000 ft with no parachute ☂

Mr Aikins works at the US Parachute Association and also trains Special Forces troops in parachute techniques. He was the backup jumper in 2012 when Felix Baumgartner became the first skydiver to break the speed of sound during a jump from 24 miles above Earth and who has performed stunts on films such as Iron Man 3.

The 42-year-old was not wearing a wing suit or emergency parachute for the jump, which was broadcast live on television. 

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. 

Lights guided Mr Aikin as he fell into a large trawler-like net, suspended above the ground by poles, which measured 30 metres by 30 metres. He hit it at around 120mph.

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.

He thanked the dozens of crew members who spent two years helping him prepare for the jump, including those who assembled the net and made sure it worked.

While Mr Aikins has made over 18,000 skydives, he admitted being nervous before his latest feat.