KL Tower BASE Jump 1999

Three jump off KL Tower to celebrate anniversary

Three men jumped off Menara Kuala Lumpur in an act of derring-do to mark the tower’s third anniversary and landed safely after their 300 meter plunge. In the process they completed the country’s first BASE jump - the acronym meaning Buildings, Antennas, Spans, and Earth, the four types of platforms used in this sport.

As early visitors, reporters, and tower staff craned their necks and television crew and photographers aimed their cameras Kapt (Rtd) Abdul Rahmat Omar Haniff Omar stepped off Tower Head Level Five. Three seconds later his canopy opened and he circled and sailed down to tumble onto the end of the Pedestrian Mall, just slightly off the primary landing area which was the bus park. Nursing a wounded knee, he braved a smile and huddled over to the crowd which included his proud father, former Inspector General of the Police Tun Haniff Omar.

Soon another figure leapt off Menara Kuala Lumpur, his canopy unfurled and Lt (Rtd) A. Aziz Ahmad found the landing area but had to use the bus park curve to stop his roll. Next, Canadian jumper Martin Dumas drew gasps from the crowd as he took seconds longer to release his chute but sailed majestically to a good running landing. “What a great feeling!” All three said as they sat with Menara KL chief executive officer Shahidah Ridwan at post-jump Press conference.

Base jump to be international annual happening

Shahidah said the BASE jump would become a yearly event and beginning next year it would be on an international level with foreign participants.

The jump is expected to earn three parachutists a place in the Malaysia Book of Records as the first Malaysian BASE jump.

The jumper said the execution was difficult as the safety margin in a normal free-fall exercise was 800 meters, which is the minimum height jumper needs to deploy the parachute safely. Their jump, however, was executed at a height of 300m, almost a third of the safe margin height. Rahmat said there was a slight wind compared to yesterday’s trial jumps.

“It brings out some different feelings in new. Don’t forget the oldest dream of man is to fly.” Dumas said when asked what he felt as he stepped into the air. He said he fell backwards from the platform so he could get a good look at the tower while airborne.

Dumas of Montréal is the technical advisor of the team and also owner of Quebec’s AtmosphAir Skydiving Centre while Aziz and Rahmat were part of the North Pole Free Fall Expedition last year. Dumas who has been parachute jumping for 10 years, said the parachute for a BASE jump is made and packed differently than that for jumping from an airplane and the jumper had to have a different mentality and reactions.

Aziz said safety was the main concern and if conditions were not good for the jump they would have scrapped it.

Making the most of the opportunity and as a base jumping is illegal in North America according to Rahmat, Dumas made a second jump taking even longer this time to open his canopy.