Albert Berry

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This article is about the parachutist. For the U.S. Representative from Kentucky, see Albert S. Berry.

Captain Albert Berry is one of two people credited as the first person to make a successful parachute jump from a powered aeroplane. The other contender is Grant Morton, who is reported to have jumped from a Wright Model B flying over Venice Beach, California sometime late in 1911.

On 1 March 1912, Berry jumped from a Benoit pusher biplane from 1,500 feet (457 m) and landed successfully at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. The pilot was Tony Jannus. The 36 foot (11 m) diameter parachute was contained in a metal canister attached to the underside of the plane - when Berry dropped from the plane his weight pulled the parachute from the canister. Rather than being attached to the parachute by a harness Berry was seated on a trapeze bar. According to Berry he dropped 500 feet (152 m) before the parachute opened.