Veteran motorcycle stunt rider Butch Laswell was killed in a jump after he missed a landing ramp and crashed to the ground in front of thousands of stunned spectators. Sunday.
Shortly after 3:30 p.m., Laswell accelerated his motorcycle to 70 miles an hour and roared up a 27-foot ramp at a seven-story parking garage, handily clearing the 38-foot-high Skywalk Bridge that spans Mesquite Boulevard to the Oasis Resort.Laswell, who had delayed the jump earlier because of gusting winds, was hoping to take advantage of a lull in the wind when he attempted the jump.
He was fatally injured when his motorcycle came down to the left of the landing ramp and crashed onto the pavement. Laswell was still astride the machine when it hit the asphalt and began spinning, dragging him with it.
"The wind may have been a factor," said Mesquite Police Chief Michael Murphy. "Everything was set for the jump and he had a window of opportunity to jump, but there was wind, and he was aware of that. It was his decision."
Winds were gusting from Las-well's right to left.
Laswell had planned to accelerate his Honda CR500 to 70 mph and soar at least 10 feet over the bridge to surpass his previous record of 41 feet above the ground, according to the Oasis Resort, site of the stunt.
The daredevil was to remain airborne for 120 feet before landing on a 27-foot-tall ramp.
Representatives from the Guin-ness Book of World Records attended the event, the hotel said.
Laswell easily soared over the Skywalk Bridge, clearing it by more than 10 feet, but when he came down he was off to the left of the ramp by several feet and slammed into the concrete.
Onlookers in the crowd estimated at 5,000 began to press toward Laswell, but police kept them back.
Murphy said Laswell was conscious as he was taken away by ambulance. A helicopter met the ambulance just outside Mesquite and took him to Las Vegas.
A nursing supervisor who declined to give her name said she did not know his cause of death.
Murphy said he had talked to Laswell prior to the jump.
"He was very soft-spoken; He was very positive about what he was doing," the chief said.
Laswell said in a television interview Saturday he felt comfortable about the jump and performed similar stunts a number of times.
Laswell had completed more than 5,000 jumps in 20 years of stunt jumping and had a "100 percent safety record," the hotel said in a statement.
The Overton, Nev., native was pronounced dead about an hour after the jump at a Las Vegas hospital.
A resident of Las Vegas, Laswell amazed audiences throughout the world with his heart-stopping leaps, "no hands" gestures in midair and spectacular acrobatics.
"If you miss a ramp on a high jump it's like falling off a six-story building. He knows what he's doing and he's a wonderful person to work with," said promoter Douglas McValley prior to the jump. He said Laswell had trained two months for the jump and was in top physical shape.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.