Captain Albert Berry is credited as the first person to jump from an airplane with a parachute. On March 1, 1912, Captain Berry jumped from a Benoist pusher-type airplane at about 1500 feet over Jefferson Barracks, near St. Louis, Missouri. The plane was piloted by Tony Jannus, who two years later would achieve fame as the first airline pilot.

The parachute was packed inside an odd, cone-shaped contraption under the plane. Captain Berry climbed from his seat, situated himself on a type of trapeze bar hanging from the front of the airplane, and attached the parachute to the harness he was wearing. With a quick tug of a rope, Captain Berry shot downward. Captain Berry fell 500 feet before the parachute opened.

When asked if he would do it again, Captain Berry replied, “Never again! I believe I turned five somersaults on my way down…My course downward…was like a crazy arrow. I was not prepared for the violent sensation that I felt when I broke away from the aeroplane.” He then repeated his feat on March 10.