The authorities are searching for two men who climbed over the glass wall of Seattle’s popular Space Needle observation tower on Friday evening, flipped over a ledge and then parachuted from the 605-foot-tall structure.
The Seattle Police Department said security guards told investigators that the jumpers had entered the Space Needle just before 9 p.m. with tickets they had purchased.
The pair, who were seen on camera at the top of the Space Needle, then went into a restroom and emerged with helmets on, Detective Brian Pritchard said in a statement.
“Both suspects approached the glass window facing northbound, running and jumping over to the opposite side of the glass,” he said, adding that the pair then did a backflip off the ledge.
The Space Needle did not immediately respond to inquiries on Sunday about the episode.
A video shared online showed visitors as they watched the two men climb over the glass before jumping off.
It was not clear where they landed. The authorities have not identified the jumpers, who were described as white men in their late 20s.
They each face a charge of criminal trespassing, a misdemeanor, Detective Pritchard said.
The Space Needle, one of the most recognizable structures of its kind, was built as a cultural centerpiece for the 1962 World’s Fair, which had a theme of “The Age of Space,” according to the Space Needle.
The structure has a saucer-shaped observation deck that provides visitors with 360-degree views, including of downtown Seattle, Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains.
Detective Pritchard said unplanned jumps from the Space Needle were uncommon.
He noted that in November 1996, there was a four-person authorized jump in which one of the jumpers was injured.
In 1975, two daredevils hid their parachutes in knapsacks, got past safety barriers and jumped from the observation deck, The Associated Press reported.
