Felix Baumgartner, first skydiver to fall faster than the speed of sound, dies in a paraglider crash

Arab Times

19-07-2025

PORTO SANT'ELIPIDO, Italy, July 19, (AP): Extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner, the first skydiver to fall faster than the speed of sound during a 24-mile leap through the stratosphere more than a decade ago, died in a crash Thursday along the eastern coast of Italy. He was 56.
Italian firefighters who responded said a paraglider crashed into the side of a swimming pool in the city of Porto Sant Elpidio.
The city's mayor confirmed Baumgartner's death in a social media post.
"Our community is deeply affected by the tragic disappearance of Felix Baumgartner, a figure of global prominence, a symbol of courage and passion for extreme flight," Mayor Massimiliano Ciarpella said.
Baumgartner, known as "Fearless Felix,' stunned the world in 2012 when he became the first human to break the sound barrier with only his body. He wore a pressurized suit and jumped from a capsule hoisted more than 24 miles (39 kilometers) above Earth by a giant helium balloon over New Mexico.
The Austrian, who was part of the Red Bull Stratos team, topped out at 843.6 mph - the equivalent of 1.25 times the speed of sound - during a nine-minute descent. At one point, he went into a potentially dangerous flat spin while still supersonic, spinning for 13 seconds, his crew later said.
"When I was standing there on top of the world, you become so humble, you do not think about of breaking records anymore, you do not think of about gaining scientific data. The only thing you want is to come back alive,' he said after landing in the eastern New Mexico desert.
The altitude he jumped from also was the highest-ever for a skydiver, shattering the previous record set in 1960 by Joe Kittinger, who served as an adviser to Baumgartner during his feat.
Baumgartner's altitude record stood for two years until Google executive Alan Eustace set new marks for the highest free-fall jump and greatest free-fall distance​.
Beachgoers knew something was wrong when they heard a loud boom ring out as a paraglider spun out of control, killing its only occupant, extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner, when it crashed next to a swimming pool near the Adriatic Sea.
A 30-year-old mother watched the deadly descent unfold Thursday afternoon from nearby with her two young children, who were entranced by the constant traffic of paragliders above the beach town of Porto Sant'Elipido in central Italy's Marche region.
"Everything was normal, then it started to spin like a top,'' Mirella Ivanov said Friday. "It went down and we heard a roar. In fact, I turned around because I thought it crashed on the rocks. Then I saw two lifeguards running, people who were running toward' the crash site.
When she saw people trying to revive the occupant, she scurried her two children away.
The city's mayor confirmed the death of 56-year-old Baumgartner, who was renowned as the first skydiver to fall faster than the speed of sound. The cause of the paragliding accident was under investigation. Police did not return calls asking for comment.
"It is a destiny that is very hard to comprehend for a man who has broke all kinds of records, who has been an icon of flight, and who traveled through space,' Mayor Massimiliano Ciarpella told The Associated Press.
Ciarpella said that Baumgartner had been in the area on vacation, and that investigators believed he may have fallen ill during the fatal flight.
Baumgartner's social media feed features videos of him in recent days flying on a motorized paraglider -known as paramotoring - above seaside towns, and taking off from a nearby airfield surrounded by cornfields.
The Club de Sole Le Mimose beachside resort where the crash occurred said in a statement that an employee who was "slightly injured' in the accident was in good condition. No guests were injured, and the pool has been reopened.
In 2012, Baumgartner, known as "Fearless Felix,' became the first human to break the sound barrier with only his body. He wore a pressurized suit and jumped from a capsule hoisted more than 24 miles (39 kilometers) above Earth by a giant helium balloon over New Mexico.
The Austrian, who was part of the Red Bull Stratos team, topped out at 843.6 mph - the equivalent of 1.25 times the speed of sound - during a nine-minute descent. At one point, he went into a potentially dangerous flat spin while still supersonic, spinning for 13 seconds, his crew later said.
Baumgartner's altitude record stood for two years until Google executive Alan Eustace set new marks for the highest free-fall jump and greatest free-fall distance.
In 2012, millions watched YouTube's livestream as Baumgartner coolly flashed a thumbs-up when he came out of the capsule high above Earth and then activated his parachute as he neared the ground, lifting his arms in victory after he landed.
Baumgartner, a former Austrian military parachutist, made thousands of jumps from planes, bridges, skyscrapers and famed landmarks, including the Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil.
In 2003, he flew across the English Channel in a carbon fiber wing after being dropped from a plane.
In recent years, he performed with The Flying Bulls, an aviation team owned and operated by Red Bull, as a helicopter stunt pilot in shows across Europe.
Red Bull paid Baumgartner tribute in a post Friday, calling him "precise, demanding, and critical. With others, but above all toward yourself.'
The statement underlined the research and courage with which Baumgartner confronted "the greatest challenges.'