In March 1912, U.S. Army Captain Albert Berry Made the First Parachute Jump From a Powered Airplane ~ Vintage Everyday

On March 1, 1912, U.S. Army Captain Albert Berry climbed into a Benoist pusher-type airplane piloted by Tony Jannus, and made the first parachute jump from an airplane.

Berry had extensive experience parachuting from balloons before his first airplane jump. The 36 feet (11 m) diameter parachute was contained in a metal canister attached to the underside of the plane, and to a harness worn by Berry. The plane took off from Kinloch Field—today's St. Louis Lambert International Airport.

At 1,500 feet (460 m), Berry dropped from the plane, his weight pulling the parachute from the canister. He dropped 500 feet (150 m) before the parachute opened. He landed at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri. Berry is credited as being the first man to perform a parachute jump from a moving airplane.

The Associated Press reported the event:

ST. LOUIS, March 1. —For the first time in the history of a heavier-than-air flying machine, a man leaped from an aeroplane at Jefferson barracks this afternoon and descended safely to earth in a parachute. Capt. Albert Berry made the spectacular leap and it was witnessed by hundreds of cheering soldiers.

Berry and Pilot Jannus left the Kinlock aviation field in the afternoon in a two-passenger biplane, carrying beneath the machine, in a specially constructed case, a large parachute. With practiced hand Jannus steadied the machine, Berry gave a quick jerk of a rope and, while the aeroplane, first bouncing up like a cork, suddenly poised and steadied itself.

Hundreds of watchers held their breath as Berry shot toward the earth, the parachute trailing after him in a long, snaky line. Suddenly the parachute opened, the rapidity of the descent was checked and, amid cheers, the first aviator to make such an attempt lightly reached the ground.

He jumped from an airplane again on March 10, 1912, in front of a crowd in San Francisco. The successful jump helped demonstrate the potential of parachutes for aviation safety and military use.

Antony H. Jannus and Captain Albert Berry, U.S. Army, prior to their flight, at Kinloch Field, Missouri, 1 March 1912. The parachute is packed inside the inverted cone.