Wing Suits: are they a rescue strategy from skyscrapers?

[Rhea]

I decided the answer is "no" after reading up a little, but maybe a last resort is better than non resort?

This is an interesting and long article about the dangers of BASE (standing) jump wing suiting (different from airplane jumps which are significantly safer).

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/features/why-are-so-many-base-jumpers-dying/

But if I were trapped in the World Trade Center, I'd take my chance with a wing suit - probably the only chance I'd have.

in the speed-fueled world of wingsuit BASE jumping (BASE is an acronym standing for the types of objects participants may leap from: Buildings, Antennas, bridges—aka, “Spans”—and the Earth itself, in the form of cliffs or promontories).

BASE jumping, without the wingsuit qualifier, is simply the act of parachuting from fixed objects, as opposed to planes. Wingsuit BASE jumping takes the act of BASE jumping to an entirely different level, one in which the stakes are as high, and the margins are as thin, as the rewards are unforgettable.

And beautiful. And primal. And extremely addictive.

A wingsuit is a baffled full-body nylon costume that resembles the stretched membrane of a flying squirrel. The “pilot” of the wingsuit leaps off a cliff and within a split second, an intake fills the suit’s baffled chambers with air, turning them rigid. By holding a proper body position, the wingsuit pilot is able to glide forward at a ratio of 3:1, meaning that he is hurtling forward three feet for every foot of descent.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

Wingsuits are basically unlandable--when you're getting low you pull your ripcord and come down under a canopy. They also require a lot of freefall practice before you'll be allowed to jump in one. Thus why not do it as a static line jump in the first place?