Posted on 07/17/2025 1:22:18 PM PDT by DFG
Extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner has died in a paragliding crash in Italy.
The Austrian sportsman, 56, reportedly lost control of his aircraft on Thursday at around 4pm in Porto Sant'Elpidio, Marche.
Italian local media has reported the dare-devil crashed into the pool of the Le Mimose campsite after feeling unwell before taking off.
A woman was also left injured in the incident after being struck by Baumgartner as he plummeted to the ground. She was taken to Murri Hospital, but her condition is not serious, according to initial reports.
Baumgartner had taken off from Fermo, but while flying over the coast, for reasons still under investigation, he lost control of the powered hang glider. After the crash, he immediately lost consciousness and went into cardiac arrest.
Emergency responders requested an air ambulance for transport to the Torrette Hospital in Ancona, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.
Shortly before his death, the sports star posted a video on his social media alongside the caption: 'Too much wind'.
It showed him paragliding in circles over a field, completely unaware of the tragedy that was about to strike. Baumgartner had been in the area for a short holiday with his wife.
The sports sensation was internationally known for his spectacular jumps. He became particularly famous in 2012 with a jump from the stratosphere in which he set three world records.
Baumgartner dropped jaws after jumped from the edge of space, armed only with a pressure suit, a parachute, and nerves of steel.
He free fell to Earth for more than four minutes, during which time he reached dizzying speeds of 843.6mph and broke the sound barrier, before opening his parachute and safely gliding down to land in New Mexico.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
I feel bad for the woman he injured. Just hanging out at the pool...yikes!
That is correct; however, in typical skydiving environments, one can adopt certain body positions that will increase that speed.
As you point out, in a head down position (Sailor's Dive) one can get 150+mph. A lot of fun unless one forgets to add time to slow down prior to opening the canopy.
Tracking horizontally across the earth in free fall at say 60mph ground speed, will also increase one's speed but not quite as much, typically by 15-20 mph.
Watched his jump from space
on tv.took over a hour for his balloon to get to altitude but roughly 10 minutes to ljterally fall back down.
I can take the seat next to Evel Knievel.
Not true. Terminal velocity is higher at higher altitudes; but, objects slow down in the denser atmosphere.
That is not where he hit the ground. Falling objects slow down as the atmospheric density increases.
You wrote “not true”, but you said the same thing I did.
Yes it did. Other worldly, even.
That was back in 2012.
**Another stupendous feat of daring:
The most recent tightrope walker in America was Nik Wallenda, who walked 1800 feet on a steel cable over a volcano in Nicaragua in 2020.
I was stuck in a torrance CA Hilton bec of scheduling conflict for my return flight home.
Worked from my hotel that day, but stumbled upon his fall from space by pure chance.
You are correct it was spectacular n the entire setup n commentary for his fall on TV was impressive.
I even called my wife to view it at home, not sure she was all that impressed.
Thank You United Air for allowing this happenstance.
I bet I responded to the wrong post...or just took a step closer to senility.
Funny and sad at the same time, guess the universe is complex:-/
Naah… Speed doesn’t break your neck, acceleration (including deceleration) does. Since the air density varys slowly and continuously with altitude you maintain a quasiequilibrium where the drag (vertical in this case) equals your weight.
As they say, “assuming a perfectly spherical human”.
Maybe you are right 1OldPro, if you aren’t spherical shift orientation you could change your drag coefficient and cross sectional area and suddenly experience huge and choatic forces. Don’t stick out your pinky, right?
Are you a free faller?
“...speeds of 843.6mph...”
Its not the speed, its that sudden stop to be worried about.
Seriously I was impressed by his jump from space.
Kittinger had quite the fascinating life. Including being shot down and captured during his third tour in Vietnam.
That's nothing. I saw Tom Cruise's aircraft disintegrate at Mach 10, Cruise hit the atmosphere at that speed, and all it did was mess up his toupee a little bit.
I remember watching that jump on a livestream in 2012. It’s one of the few things I can remember watching so long ago that stuck with me.
Hasn't posted since 2014.
https://freerepublic.com/tag/by:neets/index?tab=comments;brevity=full;options=no-change
Not when you are above most of the atmosphere. There is no air to slow you down way up there.
...... that’s disheartening.
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