Felix Baumgartner, who jumped from the stratosphere, has died

He was 56 years old

At the age of 56, the famous Austrian skydiver and extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner tragically died. According to Sky Sport Austria, the cause was an accident during a paramotor flight.

The tragedy occurred in the Italian city of Porto Sant’Elpidio, located on the Adriatic coast. According to local rescue services, Baumgartner was flying a powered paraglider when he began to feel unwell and lost control of the aircraft.

The paraglider crashed into a structure near a swimming pool on the grounds of a hotel by the coast. Unfortunately, the athlete died at the scene. A hotel employee was also injured in the crash — a fragment of the paraglider struck her in the neck. She received prompt medical attention and was hospitalized.

Felix Baumgartner rose to global fame for his numerous records in skydiving and BASE jumping. Skydiving involves deploying the parachute as close to the ground as possible to extend the moment of freefall. BASE jumping uses a special parachute designed for low-altitude jumps.

Over the course of his life, Felix performed more than 1,500 jumps and became a legend of extreme sports. His career began with a high-profile jump in 1999 from the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur, and later he set a record for the lowest BASE jump — from the Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil.

The pinnacle of his career was the historic 2012 jump when Baumgartner ascended to the stratosphere to an altitude of nearly 39 km and performed a free fall, becoming the first person in history to break the sound barrier without mechanical assistance — reaching a speed of 1,357.6 km/h. The jump set several world records, including the highest altitude and longest freefall distance.

After this achievement, Baumgartner ended his professional career at age 43, stating that the decision was deliberate and carefully planned in advance.

Photo: EPA-EFE / Barbara Gindl, video: Instagram @therealfelixbaumgartner