A. J. Hackett

Alan John "A. J." Hackett (born 1958) is a New Zealand entrepreneur who popularised the extreme sport of bungee jumping.

Early life

Hackett grew up on Auckland's North Shore. He left school at the age of sixteen, and served an apprenticeship as a carpenter. At this time, he took up snowboarding and skiing.

Bungy jumping

Inspired by the Vanuatu ritual and the Oxford University Dangerous Sports Club experimental jumps in the 1970s, Hackett developed a super-stretchy elastic bungee cord in the mid 1980s and demonstrated its use by throwing himself off the Eiffel Tower in Paris in 1987. [cite news |url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/extreme-bid-to-stretch-bungy-record/2007/02/27/1172338606150.html|title= Extreme bid to stretch bungy record |date=2007-02-27 |publisher=Sydney Morning Herald |first=Jano |last=Gibson]

Becoming the Father of Bungy Jumping, he launched his own company, AJ Hackett Bungy, and created a site on the Kawarau Bridge in Queenstown, New Zealand in 1988 to become the world's first commercial public bungy. He later expanded his company by founding bungy sites in Australia, France (Souleuvre Viaduct in Normandy), Germany, The United States, Mexico, Indonesia, and Macau [cite web |url=http://www.ajhackett.com/malaysia/history.html |title=AJ Hackett Malaysia - History |accessdate=2008-05-06] . Hackett initially partnered with Henry van Asch, but the two split in 1997 with van Asch taking over the New Zealand-based business. [cite web|url=http://www.innovate.org.nz/speakers/Henry-van-Asch.html |title=Henry van Asch |accessdate=2008-05-06]

Hackett is widely known for his many bungy stunts that have earned him Guinness records and personal milestones, just a few including:
* 1988: Jumping off the Auckland Stock Exchange Tower, claiming the title as being the world's first Bungy off a building
* 1990: Jumping 380 meters out of a helicopter for the first time
* 2000: Jumping off the Royal Gorge Bridge, also known as the highest suspension bridge in the world
* 2006: Opening and jumping out of the Macau Tower in China measuring 233 meters above ground and holding the title as the highest sky jump and highest commercial Bungy
* 2007: Doubling the previous record of 700 meters out of a helicopter with 1,499.6 meters in Malaysia with his new Bungy technology allowing Bungy stretches of over 1 kilometer

On November 6 2007, Hackett was honoured by New Zealand television show "This Is Your Life". [cite web |url=http://tvnz.co.nz/view/page/488120/1046052 |title=This Is Your Lif e|publisher=Television New Zealand|accessdate=2008-05-06]

References

External links

* cite web
url = http://www.aj-hackett.com/
title = AJ Hackett Bungy Company website
accessdate = 2008-05-06