Asian Mail
Two brave skydivers shattered records with the highest tandem parachute jump (skydive) ever, leaping from an astonishing 42,018 ft (12,807 meters) in the air.
James C Wigginton and Alex Coker, both from the USA, took the ultimate leap of faith in Memphis, Tennessee, on 25 May, skydiving from a staggering height in honour of their late friend and teammate Thomas J. Noonan III.
To put that staggering height into perspective for you, a standard tandem skydive is done from between 8,000 and 14,000 ft.
And a commercial passenger plane usually flies at around 35,000 ft.
Memphis Air Traffic Control even had to contact a plane to ask them to divert out of their skydive path, confusing the pilot who couldn’t understand how he could be in the way of a skydive at 32,000 ft.
James, also known as Jim, 75, and Alex, a tandem instructor at West Tennessee Skydiving, carried pictures of Tom and his longtime girlfriend Julie Watkins with them during the skydive, which was captured on film by Tylor Flurry.
Jim already held this record alongside Arkadiusz Majewski (Poland).
They jumped from 11,405 m (37,417 ft) in 2019.
Jim said: “I was supposed to jump [in 2019] with my teammate Tom Noonan and he incurred an injury and so I ended up having to jump with a gentleman from Poland.
“In 2021, we attempted this jump from 41,000 ft and unfortunately it resulted in Tom’s passing.
“Tom was in his mid-40s, spent his entire career as a tandem skydiver, so everybody around the world knew of Tom Noonan.
Tom tragically died after a malfunction in the oxygen system caused him and everyone else on board to experience hypoxia.
He lost consciousness, and valiant efforts to resuscitate him were sadly unsuccessful.
But Tom was still part of this world record attempt.
The jump was also for Folds of Honor, a veteran-run organization that provides scholarships for the families of fallen military and first responders, and The Punya Thyroid Cancer Foundation, which Jim started in honour of his wife who died from thyroid cancer in 2013.
Jim and Alex jumped from so high that they were in freefall for 2 minutes and 28 seconds.
They reached a top speed of 218 mph (97.4 km/h) and experienced temperatures of -73ºF (-58ºC).
But Alex confessed: “I felt at peace with this jump.”
He continued: “There was a lot of preparation, this wasn’t a regular skydive.
“But Jim was already a licensed skydiver and has done tonnes of jumps so it made it easier on us.”
Jim added: “Of course, 40,000 ft is exceptionally high so there are a lot of dangers involved with it and as a team, us as well as the crew that helped make this happen did everything we could to eliminate that risk, so [it was fine] other than how cold it was and the pressure on my ears.”
Jim usually wears ear tubes to protect his ears, but they fell out during the jump and his eardrums ruptured.
He said: “It’s like having somebody drive ice picks in your ears.”
He described the pain as “excruciating”.
But it was certainly worth it for both Jim and Alex.
“There’s nothing else like it in the world,” Alex said.
And Jim added: “When you land, there’s always that natural exhilaration of a great jump and in this case it was exceptional because now we know we landed safely and it’s a new world record.”
Jim says he’s broken many skydiving records in his time, and he’s also the only person who has ever jumped from 7 miles up and dove 7 miles down into the ocean.
And once again, Jim can proudly say – alongside Alex – that he holds the record for the highest tandem skydive ever.
(Courtesy Guinness World Records)
