Extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner falls to his death

No time? blue News summarizes for you

• Austrian extreme sportsman Felix Baumgartner has died in a paragliding accident in Italy. He was 56 years old.
• According to media reports, Baumgartner was already dead on impact.
• Baumgartner became world famous with his jump from the stratosphere at a height of 39,045 meters.

Summary created with

This article was last updated at 23.02.

The extreme sportsman Felix Baumgartner has died in a paragliding accident in Italy. According to reports, Baumgartner was already dead on impact. His paraglider hit a young woman. The accident occurred on the coast of Fermo in Porto Sant'Elpidio at around 4 p.m. on Thursday, according to the Italian news agency Ansa.

The young woman who was hit by the 56-year-old former extreme sportsman's paraglider was not in a serious condition. She was an employee of the resort.

Lost control of paraglider

As the fire department confirmed to the Austrian news agency APA, Baumgartner is said to have lost control of a motorized paraglider due to a sudden feeling of discomfort and crashed into the hotel pool.

It is suspected that he lost control of his motorized paraglider due to an attack of weakness. However, a technical failure or a mishap cannot be ruled out either, it was said.

According to the Italian fire department, Baumgartner died instantly. An entertainer at the hotel was also injured in the crash - fortunately not seriously, according to the sports newspaper "La Gazzetta dello Sport". According to Italian media reports, there were several guests in the pool who witnessed the drama. They remained unharmed, it was reported. It is possible that things could have been even worse.

"I belong to the air"

Just a few hours before the accident, Baumgartner posted a video on his Instagram channel showing him flying with a paramotor glider. On his last Instagram story, Baumgartner also posted a photo of an airfield with the caption: "Too much wind." He also recently shared photos of paramotor gliding from Fermo on the Italian coast on Facebook.

Baumgartner had recently been regularly sharing videos of his paragliding flights on social media. He wore the words "born to fly" on his right arm. He once commented on his thirst for adventure with the words: "I belong to the air, I was born for these emotions."

Jump from a height of 39 kilometers: Felix Baumgartner on 14 October 2012.

Bild: Keystone (Archivbild)

Jump from 39 kilometers

Baumgartner jumped from the stratosphere at a height of 39,045 meters on 14 October 2012, becoming the first person to break the sound barrier in free fall wearing only a special pressure suit and landing safely with a parachute.

He reached a speed of 1342 kilometers per hour. He broke three world records during the jump. Millions of people around the world watched the event live.

Baumgartner was also active as a base jumper for many years. He jumped from the statue of Christ in Rio, the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur and the Millennium Tower in Vienna.

Baumgartner lived in Switzerland

According to earlier reports, he was living in Arbon TG at the time. After his record jump, Baumgartner retired from extreme sports. It remains unclear how much he earned from the jump. The event was marketed by drinks manufacturer Red Bull.

Two pages in the Guinness Book of Records were dedicated to Baumgartner. He was an ambassador for young people for the United Nations. The extreme sportsman made a name for himself with his base jumps from the 1990s onwards. After the stratosphere jump, worldwide interest took on huge proportions.

Felix Baumgartner later attracted attention due to a conviction for assault and as an advocate of a moderate dictatorship. This earned him criticism and malice. The Salzburg native did not score any sympathy points in his home country with his statement that he had moved to Thurgau for the money.

With material from the news agencies Keystone-sda, dpa and afp.