Felix Baumgartner, who broke the world record for the highest skydive by jumping from the edge of space, has died in a motorized paragliding accident in Italy.
The 56-year-old fell to the ground on Thursday near the swimming pool of a hotel while flying over the village of Porto Sant’Elpidio in the eastern Marche region.
Porto Sant’Elpidio’s mayor, Massimiliano Ciarpella, said reports suggested the adventurous sportsman known as “Fearless Felix” may have suffered a sudden medical issue mid-air after he reported feeling unwell before take-off.
She described him as “a symbol of courage and passion for extreme flights”.
Baumgartner was known in Romania as the long-term partner of television personality Mihaela Schwartzenberg. He posted a photo of her on social media in the area the day before his death and she reportedly rushed to the scene after the freak accident. Some of her half million followers posted messages of condolence on her Instagram page. She has not made any public comment.
The Austrian daredevil made headlines in 2012 when he broke the world record for the highest-ever skydive, jumping from a balloon more than 39km up in the stratosphere.
He free fell to Earth for more than four minutes, during which time he touched dizzying speeds of 1,343 km an hour and broke the sound barrier, before opening his parachute and safely gliding down to land in New Mexico.
Fans have left their own tributes beneath one of the skydiver’s final social media posts, a video of him working on the motor of his paraglider.
Before his fatal leap, he posted that there was “too much wind” next to a picture of a full windsock.
Known as “Fearless Felix” for his adventurous , the extreme sportsman was best known for his space leap. After his record breaking jump in 2012, he said “when I was standing there on top of the world, you become so humble”.
“You don’t think about breaking records anymore, you don’t think about gaining scientific data – the only thing that you want is to come back alive.”
