Top 10 Most Dangerous World Records

“Wing walking” is a fairly self-explanatory extreme sport: it involves a performer pulling off acrobatic stunts atop the wings of an airplane all while it’s soaring through the sky. It should go without saying that this is a very risky endeavor to even attempt to pull off, but that didn’t stop United Kingdom resident Thomas Lackey from giving it a go. First attempting wing walking at the age of 80, Lackey went on to break the record as the oldest person to pull off the daring feat multiple times. Not wanting to lose his top spot to anyone else, Thomas cemented himself as the bravest old timer on the face of the earth by wing walking again at 93 years old.

Thrill seeker Ashrita Furman is no stranger to pulling off unbelievable accomplishments, as he holds upwards of 200 Guinness World Records. However, his underwater spear catching trick has been seen as his most deadly venture yet. While submerged underwater, a grand total of 14 spears were fired at Furman as he wowed the world by catching them all consecutively using only one hand. The spears were 60cm in length and fired from a spear gun at a range of 2 meters away, so just one wrong move and Furman would’ve had some pretty big holes in his hands. The kicker is that he hurt himself while practicing for the stunt, yet wanted to go through with it anyway. That takes serious mojo!

Don’t look down. In 1974, French high-wire artist Philippe Petit summoned the courage to perform his most daring tightrope act yet. Without any authorization or permission to setup his stunt – because seriously, who would give someone the O.K to do something like this – Petit walked across a cable suspended over 1,300 feet in the air between the two towers of New York’s World Trade Center. Just making it across from one building to the other wasn’t enough for him however, as his entire ‘performance’ lasted 45 minutes, with Petit making eight trips and performing a dancing act for the spectators below. His death defying actions were the inspiration for the 2015 film “The Walk” which starred Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the fearless daredevil himself.

Talk about a horrible moment to belly flop… Laso Schaller summoned the guts to climb a towering 200-foot-high mountain ridge along the Swiss-Italian border. That’s bad enough, but then he then leaped into the air and came crashing down into the bed of water below. It may’ve been water, but keep in mind that Schaller travelled down at an estimated speed of 76 miles per hour; that kind of velocity can make even the calmest of waters feel like bricks on impact. And it may as well have been bricks, as Schaller dislocated his hip due to the force of his collision with the water. We can only guess that Laso saw French diver Oliver Favre’s 177-foot dive and was majorly underwhelmed.

While working as a bricklayer, John Evans discovered that he had an uncanny ability: he could balance incredibly heavy objects on top of his head; a talent which he began to hone. After several years of dedication to this unique skill, Evans reached the peak of his talent when he decided to balance a car on his head for a grand total of 33 seconds in front of a live audience. Said car weighed not one, not two but three hundred and fifty-two pounds. With his formidable strength and expert concentration, Evans somehow managed to make the whole situation look easy, but all it would take is one wrong move and…well…he woulda looked a whole lot flatter.

Having a drink every now and then can be good fun, but like anything else, consuming alcohol should be a pastime enjoyed in moderation. Then again, two different men in Poland have been recorded with blood alcohol levels over 1%. There’s also the well-known case involving a 67-year-old Bulgarian man who was rushed into a hospital with an extremely high 0.914 blood alcohol content level after being hit by an oncoming truck. By all accounts, if the full force of a truck didn’t kill this man on impact, then realistically speaking, the amount of alcohol in his system probably should have. Doctors were so baffled by him surviving this near-death experience; they proceeded to re-evaluate him using multiple machines, believing that their equipment must be faulty to show such high numbers.

Pulling off daring motorcycle bus jumps has been classic stuntman move for decades. Some of the most noteworthy examples of that feat were successfully completed by legendary motorcyclist Evel Knievel in the 1970s. Knieval’s first attempt in 1975 saw him jump over 13 parked busses, only to break his pelvis on the way down. This didn’t turn him off from the idea, however, as just a few months later, he gave it another go, this time adding an additional bus for a grand total of 14. Knievel held onto this world record for nearly 25 years, before Bubba Blackwell decided to up the ante by jumping 15 busses in 1999.

The phrase “the sky’s the limit” is usually just an expression. But there are a few folks out there who take this mentality quite literally and to staggering new heights. Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner made headlines around the world when he jumped from a helium balloon floating 127,000 feet above the Earth and careened down to the planet below at a mind-blowing speed of 843 miles per hour - also making him the first human to break the sound barrier without a vehicle. Alan Eustace must’ve felt that was child’s play, as he jumped from the even higher height of 135 thousand feet just two years later.

Australian stunt performer Chayne Hultgren– aka the Space Cowboy– has never been one to shy away from outrageous acts like swallowing swords and juggling chainsaws. But those seem tame when compared to his more unsettling accomplishment of allowing motorcycles to drive over him while he was lying on top of a bed of nails. His facial expressions make it clear that not only is he uncomfortable; he’s in a great deal of pain as those motorcycles use him as a human bridge a total of 20 times. Hultgren’s stunt has “inspired” others to give it a whirl as well over the years. But we gotta say: kids, don’t try this at home.

Before we reveal our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

- Biggest Airplane Eaten
- Rebreather Deep Diving
- Highest Tightrope Crossed on a Motorcycle

Nope, nope, nope. Jackie Bibby has spent much of his life with the slithering reptiles in question, earning him the title of “The Texas Snake Man.” He has been bitten several times but still insists on continuing his snake-themed performances. The passion he has for his art is admired by his many fans, but even the most diehard followers gasped when Jackie decided to hold 13 live rattlesnakes in his mouth all at once. Time seems to come to a screeching halt, as Bibby maintains firm control over the snakes. Bibby may be well practiced, but these are still wild animals and all it takes is one wrong move for things to get messy real fast. Fortunately, they didn’t – this time.

Do you agree with our list? What do you feel is the most dangerous world record? For more thrilling Top 10’s published every day, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.