New Year's Eve Parachute Jump from Minneapolis' Foshay Tower
Apparently, David Juntunen and some friends bought tickets for the observation deck, removed safety railings with a wrench, he climbed up, jumped, deployed his red parachute, and landed safely in a bus lane in the street, with friends photographing and videoing the jump.
Juntunen is currently being held without bail by Minneapolis police. The others arrested have been released on bail. BASE jumping itself, the extreme sport of parachuting off buildings, cliffs, bridges and other objects, is not illegal. But BASE jumpers can be charged with vandalism, trespassing, reckless endangerment, and other offenses which may have been committed while performing the jump.
While I think that adults should be able to strap on a parachute and plunge off a tall object if that's what they desire, endangering other people while doing so isn't right. BASE jumping is one of the most dangerous sports with over a hundred fatalities in recent years, and in a city center, there's the added risk of the jumper hitting other buildings, and worse, hitting other people on the ground. We'll have to see what becomes of the daring parachutist when his day in court comes.
Comments
First, I know all the people who were involved in the jump and I will say, this was a well planned and thought-out jump. From the winds that day to the landing, everything was executed so as to not endanger anyone or Superdave himself.
Now I am not condoning BASE jumping, and to anyone thinking of doing a stunt like this should take heed that Superdave had many jumps to his name (almost 500), but this jump was very well laid out and performed.
Something that everyone seems to forget is that the jumper does not want to die or get hurt either. If this were the case, they would not be using a parachute. Planning the jump for their safety automatically brings safety to others. In this jump, from the corner that he jumped from, there is no way he would’ve hit someone even if the parachute didn’t open at all. The area he landed in was very open. No danger to anyone.
I must say that “SuperDave” (as he calls himself) is an absolute loser.
He’s already been banned from my dropzone. I was on the plane with him when he purposely threw his pilot chute into the airplane twice while exiting the plane! I have no problem with somebody endangering their own life but if that pilot chute were to wrap around the tail of the airplane everybody on board would have died! All for a joke! I won’t EVER jump with him or get on a plane with him.
His recent stunt where he went back to brag about his jump has also pissed people off nation wide. BASE jumping is a sacred sport that must be respected. One of the major points of BASE is to be stealthy about it and not hurt anyboyd and NOT GET CAUGHT. His poor judgement gives we BASE jumpers a bad name and it won’t be long before the government cracks down harder on the sport that I love so much.
HE’s needy and just seems to be after attention. LOSER.
HA! “Over a hundred fatalities in recent years.” But the link brings you to a site that lists BASE fatalities over the past 28 years.
I’m sorry, we’re going to fret over a sport that claims almost 5 fatalities a year? Somehow I’m thinking more people die in more ‘mainstream’ sports.