Jeb Corliss is probably the luckiest men alive. In case you’re not familiar with him, he is one of the world’s foremost and best-known BASE-jumpers and wingsuit pilots. And even thought this video and accident looks like it could have been his last. He’s a professional and from the video, he clearly kept his head in the game and manage to have a safe landing.
After jumping off Table Mountain, in South Africa, he started to glide at 120 MPH and started to get closer to the ground each passing second. His goal was to hit a black balloon tied to the ground and pass a photographer who was going to take a picture of him at the closest point of the ground.
They got the picture, he hit the balloon, but he got closer to the hill then he had expected. As he swooped in, his foot clipped a rock. The impact caused him to lose control, and this is what I mean about being a professional: Even though he lost control in the accident, he managed to regain control, steady his flight course, and then pull the parachute. Had he freaked out, like many of us would of done, he would of pulled the chute to early while he was tumbling and probably get tangled in the chutes’ chords.
His helmet camera and the camera of a second Wingsuit diver caught the whole impact on video. It’s freaking terrifying and scary to watch. I give him credit for trying to pull a stunt like this off, he obviously has more guts than many of us, but jumping off a cliff with a fake pair of wings is not really the greatest idea ever.
You can see the video here, or click the video tab at the top, but it’s a little disturbing so this is your warning. Lucky for him, he was able to pull the parachute immediately after making impact with the rock, which Is probably the only reason he survived the accident.
