Daredevil Anthony Martin falls to the ground while handcuffed and locked inside a coffin (Picture: AP/Skydive Chicago)

A daredevil escape artist has landed safely after plummeting 14,500ft to the ground while trapped inside a locked coffin with his hands cuffed.

Anthony Martin, 47, waved to a crowd who turned out to watch his stunt after parachuting gently into a field in Serena, Illinois, about 70 miles south-west of Chicago.

He said the escape from his death-defying stunt on Tuesday was exhilarating.


‘It seemed to me like I had a glimpse of the ground for a second then it (the door) came back and I had to give it another push.’

Uncuffed: Anthony Martin shows crowds he is not longer handcuffed (Picture:AP)

After successfully getting out of the box, where his hands were cuffed to a belt around his waist and his right arm was chained to the inside of the box, he parachuted to safety, watching the casket fall behind him.



‘I didn’t know where I was… but I was hypnotised as I watched the box falling behind me,’ he said.

Before jumping a prison door lock, which no keys exist for, was screwed into place to hold the door tight.

A small parachute was attached to the top of the box before it was thrown from the plane as he fell at 130 miles per hour to the ground.

Free man: The daredevil glides under his parachute after successfully escaping from the locked coffin (Picture: AP)

A team of skydivers held the outside of the box to help steady it as Mr Martin tried to escape from it.

Those involved in the stunt landed safely and no one was seriously hurt, although one of the skydivers trying to steady the box slammed into the door of the plane as they jumped, giving him a fat lip and a scraped arm.

Death trap: The damaged box after the stunt (Picture: AP)

Mr Martin first performed the stunt 25 years ago and first began picking locks at the age of six.

Since his first escape from handcuffs at the age of ten, he has wriggled his way out of straitjackets, ropes, chains, jail cells, coffins and a cage submerged under water.