The Craziest Stunt In Tampa Bay History happened on April 27, 1997, a group of amateur daredevils, led by bartender and stuntman Steve Trotter and composed of a mix of male and female participants, performed an unannounced guerrilla “pendulum swing” bungee jump off the bridge, wherein they planned to swing back and forth on a home-made bungee cord made of steel cable attached to the cast-off point. Arriving by stretch limousine, the group unexpectedly pulled over at the apex of the bridge, quickly rigged up their cable, tethered themselves to it with harnesses, and jumped over the edge. This stunt failed when the plastic sheathing on the steel cable, unable to handle the increase in forces exerted on it by the initial pendulum swing, sheared off and allowed the connecting clamps to slide freely off the cable, plunging the jumpers 60 feet (18 m) into the water, leading to broken bones and neck injuries. The entire accident was caught on multiple video cameras that had been set up to record the feat.
Check out more about this crazy stunt here
I can still remember hearing about this in 1997 when I was 17 years old. I was totally obsessed with the fact that someone was insane enough to swing from the Sunshine Skyway Bridge. Personally I get freaked out just driving over the bridge, watching the video of this stunt make me sick how high up these guys are. Check out the entire stunt below.
