 "Felix Baumgartner dies at 56: Relive iconic skydiver's ground-breaking 'edge of space' jump")
Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner, who is widely renowned for successfully carrying out a record-breaking “edge of space” jump in 2012, has died in a paragliding accident on Thursday in Porto Sant’Elpidio, Italy. Reportedly, the crash occurred after Baumgartner experienced a sudden medical issue mid-air, possibly a cardiac arrest. Subsequently, he lost control and crashed into a hotel swimming pool at Le Momose Family Camping Village. Baumgartner was pronounced dead at the scene. He was 56.
Felix Baumgartner dies after paragliding accident
As Felix Baumgartner was a globally recognised figure, tributes are pouring in on social media for him. Porto’s mayor also expressed his condolences through the medium.
“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.
Record-breaking jump from the edge of space
Baumgartner garnered mass attention on October 14, 2012, during the Red Bull Stratos project. The skydiver scaled nearly 39 km above Earth in a massive helium balloon and jumped in a pressurised suit, becoming the first person to break the sound barrier in free fall. With the jump, he notched three records: the highest manned balloon flight, the highest free-fall jump, and the fastest human free-fall.
Baumgartner was in the air for four minutes and nineteen seconds straight, during which he reached a record-breaking top speed of 1,357.64 km/h (843.6 mph), which was 1.25 times the speed of sound. Through his incredible leap, he became the first human to break the sound barrier outside of a vehicle.
Baumgartner said after his record-breaking jump in 2012 that travelling faster than sound is “hard to describe because you don’t feel it.”
“Sometimes we have to get really high to see how small we are,” he said.
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As a former Austrian military parachutist, Baumgartner 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 fibre wing after being dropped from a plane.
In recent years, he performed with The Flying Bulls as a helicopter stunt pilot in shows across Europe. For his bold and intrepid stunts, he was nicknamed “Fearless Felix”.
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