A British stuntman became the world's first skydiver to land without a
parachute on Wednesday, falling 731 metres (2,400 feet) to drop safely
onto a crash-pad of cardboard boxes.Wearing a specially-made
"wing suit", Gary Connery leapt from a helicopter over Henley-on-Thames
in southern England, aiming -- with his life hanging in the balance --
at a "runway" of 18,000 cardboard boxes.After plunging at a speed
of approximately 130 kilometres (80 miles) an hour the 41-year-old
landed successfully onto the boxes, but the anxious crowd had to wait
several minutes before he emerged from the pile.Connery, who has
appeared as a stuntman in films including "Harry Potter and the Chamber
of Secrets" and the Bond movie "Die Another Day", said the experience
had been "absolutely amazing"."I'm in a strange space, if I'm totally honest," he told Sky News. "I guess I haven't digested what's just happened."

"(The landing) was so comfortable, so soft -- my calculations obviously worked out and I'm glad they did," he added.

Connery's wife Vivienne said simply: "I'm relieved it's all over."

The
stuntman trained for weeks in Switzerland and Italy ahead of the jump,
leaping from mountains and cliffs to practise gliding in his wing suit.