Two men who parachuted off the roof of PPG Place in Market Square last week could face trespassing charges if police identify them, a police spokeswoman said.
Security cameras recorded the men entering One PPG Place near Stanwix Street and Third Avenue about 4:45 a.m. April 9 wearing dark hooded jackets.
They made their way to the roof and jumped off. Police released a photo of one of them landing with a red, white and blue parachute unfurled above him.
Police were working to identify them Tuesday and released the information on the city’s social media accounts. If identified, they could be charged with trespassing, public safety spokeswoman Eliza Durham said.
“They jumped off using parachutes,” police wrote in a social media post. “CCTV footage captured them getting into a vehicle and leaving the scene shortly after.”
The main tower of PPG Place is 635 feet tall.
Police are investigating a trespassing incident that occurred at 1 PPG place at ~4:45 am on 4/9/25
Two individuals entered a building, went to the top, & jumped off using parachutes. Cameras captured them fleeing in a vehicle. DPSC Detectives are investigating. pic.twitter.com/Erhw54Hcfk
— Pittsburgh Police (@PghPolice) April 15, 2025
The men appeared to be BASE jumping enthusiasts. It’s a thrill-seeking hobby akin to skydiving, but, instead of jumping from an aircraft, people jump from a building, antenna, span or earth — hence, “BASE” jumping.
“It’s illegal, and you can end up in jail for it,” Cecil Smith said. “There’s a lot of people that like the adrenaline in it.”
Smith owns Skydive Pennsylvania based outside Grove City in Mercer County.
“I don’t train anyone to BASE jump at Skydive Pa.,” Smith said.
But he knows several hundred BASE jumpers. To pursue it, a person generally needs to be an accomplished skydiver, Smith said.
“Those boys who did it are good skydivers for sure,” he said.
BASE jumping requires a slightly different parachute that opens faster because most jumps happen under the 2,500-feet that is the lowest altitude skydivers will jump from, Smith said.
It isn’t uncommon — though it remains illegal — to BASE jump in Pittsburgh and most other places, Smith said.
Incidents are reported to police infrequently, Durham said.
Police do not track how many calls they receive to investigate them, she said.
Smith, who has a wife and kids, made a conscious decision to stay away from BASE jumping because of the risks involved, he told the Trib.
But he remembered how some of his friends jumped from the U.S. Steel building several decades ago.
They landed in the parking lot of the former Civic Arena and surrendered to police a few days later when then police Chief William “Mugsy” Moore threatened severe charges if they waited until he could identify them, Smith said.
Freeport native Moe Viletto was a BASE jumping enthusiast who was described in a 2003 TribLive story as a man who “plays chutes, with no ladders.”
“The best jumps are the ones when I’m by myself. I know I could fall to my death, and no one would know. Or I could obtain a minor injury that could be fatal. I like that; it intensifies the situation. That’s why I don’t even take a cellphone with me. It heightens my senses and makes me more aware of things,” Viletto told TribLive.
Viletto died in 2021 in his sleep, according to a Facebook group formed in tribute to him.
In 2003, a Renfrew man was killed doing a BASE jump from the Perrine Bridge over the Snake River canyon in Idaho. Jason Corcoran was 30 when he made the fatal jump, but he logged 100 BASE jumps and 2,100 skydives in his life, people told TribLive for a story about his life.