400 people fly through the air
By Sydney Kornegy
cub@TheColumbiaStar.com

Photo by Susan Mayfield HunnicuttLee Hunnicutt after his jump in Thailand

Lee Hunnicutt loves flying. While most people prefer to stay buckled on planes, he enjoys jumping out of them.

A native of Mt. Pleasant, Hunnicutt has been skydiving since he was a teenager. He served as a paratrooper in Vietnam, then competed with the Citadel skydiving team in the collegiate nationals competition. However, his most recent aerial adventure shocked even the most daring members of the Explorer's Club.

In February 2006, Hunnicutt joined 400 skydivers for a record-breaking jump over Thailand. The group broke the previous world record of 350 people for the largest skydiving formation in history.

"People tend to think that skydiving is just jumping, falling, then opening a chute," said Lee as he showed video of the jump to members of the Piedmont Chapter of the Explorer's Club September 8, 2006. "But we learn how to maneuver ourselves through the air so we can make formations like these."

The 400-person, spiral shaped formation was larger than Williams-Brice Stadium and required five, C-130 planes. Planning the dive was a logistical nightmare. The coordinators had to be sure that no two skydivers' paths crossed: a mid-air collision could mean dislocated shoulders, broken bones, and even death. Communication was also a problem. With only 100 seconds to complete the formation, a slight hesitation on even one skydiver's part could ruin the entire dive.

Photo by Susan Mayfield Hunnicutt Lee Hunnicutt signs autographs in Thailand.

After days of running "dirt dives," practice runs performed on solid ground, the team went up for its first attempt. They completed nine jumps over three days, but the operation seemed doomed to disaster. On one try, a skydiver's parachute opened too soon, causing him to lose consciousness due to the lack of oxygen at 25,000 feet. There were numerous injuries caused by collisions, including a broken fibula and dislocated shoulder.

On the third day, their second attempt was close. All the divers seemed to reach the formation in time. However, after judges reviewed video and photographs taken from the air, they determined that only 399 of the skydivers were connected in formation. A lone skydiver had failed to make a contact with the group.

The group made one more jump. Finally, on their ninth attempt, all 400 came together in perfect spiral formation. The group stayed in contact for 4.5 seconds before breaking off to open their chutes. No one on the ground had to tell them they'd done it.

"We all just knew," said Hunicutt. "It was an electrical feeling when we all finally touched."