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List of fatalities due to wingsuit flying

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Fatalities from wingsuit flying have occurred almost from the inception of the sport. Below are listed the most notable ones, including when wingsuit practice was not the first cause of death.

List of fatalities due to wingsuit flying

4 February 1912
Franz Reichelt (30), the inventor of a pre-modern wingsuit, BASE jumped from the Eiffel Tower to his death in a failed test flight.[1]
16 September 1963
Stunt parachutist Gerard Masselin jumped from a biplane showing his wingsuit to the camera and was killed after his parachute failed to open.[2]
13 April 1998
Patrick de Gayardon died testing his pioneer wingsuits in Hawaii.[3]
5 October 2003
Dwain Weston, an Australian skydiver who held the 2002 BASE-jumping world title, died after hitting a railing on the Royal Gorge Bridge near Cañon City, Colorado.[4][5] This was not a BASE accident as he had jumped from an airplane; it was technically an illegal jump since he used BASE equipment containing only one parachute (i.e., no reserve parachute).[disputed – discuss] The pilots were eventually reprimanded for allowing the jump.
22 October 2004
Roland "Slim" Simpson was a well known Australian BASE jumper. On 6 October 2004, Roland Simpson leapt from the Jin Mao Tower, the tallest skyscraper in China at the time, in a wingsuit. After a good jump and flight, his parachute opened with multiple line twists making it difficult to steer and he crashed onto an adjacent building. He went into a coma, and died several days later in Canberra Hospital.[6]
16 February 2006
Chad Zielinski exited a DHC-6 Twin Otter, and after a wingsuit flight over Belize, he died upon impact on the sea. An inspection of his gear showed no attempt to deploy either main or reserve parachute. His gear did not have an automatic activation device installed.
9 May 2007
American adventurer and TV personality Jimmy Hall (41) died on an expedition to Baffin Island in northern Canada. After several days of successful jumps, Hall attempted a wingsuit flight through a canyon. He failed to clear a ledge, and struck the cliff.[7]
26 March 2009
Shane McConkey was a professional skier and BASE jumper. McConkey was performing a complicated ski-BASE jump in Italy. He experienced problems when he attempted to release his skis, and as a result failed to deploy his parachute in time.[8]
28 August 2009
Eli Thompson died while performing a wingsuit proximity-flying jump from a helicopter in the Swiss Alps. He accidentally hit the side of the mountain.[9]
12 April 2010
Geoffrey Robson died during a wingsuit BASE jump from Stellenbosch, South Africa. He was a PhD candidate at ETH Zürich working on the mathematical modelling of the aerodynamic characteristics of wingsuits. He was described by a former professor as “very careful [, taking] the sport seriously”.[10][11]
23 June 2012
Hervé le Gallou, who was, along with Dave McDonnell, one of the first persons to jump from the Burj Khalifa, died wingsuiting on Grande Tête de l'Obiou in the French Alps.[12]
12 December 2012
Eiliv Ruud (37) struck a vertical cliff and spiraled out of control during a wingsuit jump near Grand Canyon in the United States.[13]
14 August 2013
Mark Sutton, a British stuntman who had parachuted into the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony as a James Bond character, was killed when he hit a ridge while wingsuit BASE-jumping near Martigny, Switzerland.[14] He was participating in an event sponsored by Epic TV, and a wingsuit expert stated that he appeared to have miscalculated the gradient of the ground he was flying over.[15]
18 August 2013
Mario Richard, an American wingsuit flyer, died during a wingsuit BASE jump from Sass Pordoi in Italy’s Dolomites.[16]
23 August 2013
Álvaro Bultó, a Spanish wingsuit flier, died after a wingsuit BASE-jump in Switzerland.[17][18]
8 October 2013
Hungarian Viktor Kováts died in rural China during a trial flight for the world BASE-jump championships.[19]
13 March 2014
Prolific climber, adventurer, and BASE jumper Sean “Stanley” Leary was killed in a BASE jumping accident near Zion National Park, Utah.[20]
29 March 2014
Three experienced wingsuit flyers: New Zealander Dan Vicary (33), Frenchman Ludovic Woerth (34), and American Brian Drake (33) jumped from a helicopter over the Lütschental area near Bern, Switzerland. They had planned to land in the valley, but took a wrong turn, flew over the wrong ridge, and crashed into an Alpine pasture. Vicary and Woerth were found dead; Drake died four days later in hospital.[21][22]
6 June 2014
Darío Barrio (42), a famous Spanish TV chef, owner of the Madrid restaurant Dassa Bassa and an experienced wingsuit flier, died in an accident while participating in the International Air Festival at Segura de la Sierra in Jaén, a province in southern Spain. Darío was supposed to fly over an old castle but, for unknown reasons, crashed into the cliff where the castle is located.[23]
2 September 2014
Alex Duncan, a 26 year-old Australian from Manly, Sydney, died after crashing into a mountain during a jump in the Swiss Alps.[24]
14 January 2015
Josh Sheppard (31) an experienced wingsuit flier and skydiver with more than 3,000 jumps, died when his parachute failed to open after he illegally jumped from a Michigan TV tower.[25]
16 May 2015
Dean Potter (43) and Graham Hunt (29) died during an illegal wingsuit flight from Taft Point, in Yosemite National Park.[26]
3 July 2015
Jhonathan “The Birdman” Florez, a 2013 wingsuiting world champion, died after falling from the exit point at Engelberg, Switzerland.[27][28]
10 July 2015
Damian Hrdlicka Long time skydiver and Yahoo sponsored sky surfer, found dead with nothing out, approx. 2⁄3 of the way through his flight path at Gitschen, Switzerland.[29]
1 October 2015
American adventurer Johnny Strange (23) crashed into the ground and died after jumping from a 2,000 metre summit in the Swiss canton of Uri.[30]
7 June 2016
Brazilian Fernando Brito (42) died while trying to jump from Pedra da Gávea, Rio de Janeiro.[31]
9 June 2016
Dario Zanon (33) an Italian basejumper star known as “The Great Dario”, one of the world's top wingsuit drivers, died on the side of the French side of Mont Blanc Massif after a failed wingsuit flight from the Aiguille du Midi.[32]
26 June 2016
Gary Kremer (30), an American basejumper and former U.S. Marine, died while wingsuit flying with friends in Canada.[33]
17 August 2016, two deaths
Uli Emanuele (29), an Italian base jumper, died in a crash at Lauterbrunnen in Switzerland while shooting a new video. He was famous for his flights through a ring of fire and a needle’s eye formed by a rock. The other fatality was a 49 year-old Briton who jumped from the “High Ultimate” peak at Muerren and who also crashed into a cliff.[34][35][36]
21 August 2016
Alexander Polli (31), an Italo-Norwegian base jumper, died after crashing into a tree at an altitude of 1,500 m near Chamonix.[37]
26 August 2016
Armin Schmieder (28), an Italian base jumper, died after jumping from Kandersteg, in the Swiss Alps.[38]
18 November 2016
Mehdi Habibi, Iranian base jumper, died after jumping with Wingsuit from the “High Ultimate” in Lauterbrunnen, Mürren area in the Swiss Alps. He was found dead in rough terrain by a team of Air Glaciers in the afternoon of the same day according to the local police report. His body was subsequently recovered by the rescue team. The incident is believed to have occurred around 9 AM on Friday 18 November.[39][40]
27 January 2017
Canadian wingsuit flier Graham Dickinson died after a crash during training in south China. His body was found on a cliff at the Tianmen Mountain National Forest Park in Zhangjiajie of Hunan Province.[41][42]
24 May 2017
Matthew Ciancio (42), an American wingsuit skydiver, died after jumping from 13,000 feet in California as part of a wingsuit formation with ‘four or five’ other people. Ciancio reportedly failed to follow correct emergency procedure to release his main parachute after it did not deploy correctly. Witnesses said he waited too long to release his main parachute and switch to his backup parachute.[43][44]
28 June 2017
Micah Couch, a skydiving instructor, American resident of Dubai, wingsuit flyer, and Red Bull Aces wingsuit competitor died during a wingsuit BASE jump in Aurland, Norway. Witnesses reported that his parachute failed to open, causing him to crash into the base of the mountain.[45]
6 July 2017
A 30 year-old man from Switzerland died after his parachute failed to open during a wingsuit flight in Haute Savoie in France.[46]
11 November 2017
Valery Rozov (52), a Russian climb jumper, died while jumping with a wingsuit from a height of 6,812 meters (22,349 ft) off Ama Dablam mountain in Nepal. According to members of his group, Rozov crashed into the side of the mountain.[47]
22 January 2018
Aime-Jean St. Hilaire-Adam (27), a competitive skydiver from Calgary participating in the World Open Wingsuit Championships, was killed after he collided with another jumper, lost consciousness, failed to open his parachute, and crashed onto a roof in Perris, California.[48][49]
24 June 2018
Robert Haggarty (47), a UK national originally from Dumfries Scotland, but living in Goodworth Clatford near Andover in England, died on a wingsuit flight in the Italian Dolomites. The experienced base jumper lost control during a wingsuit jump and suffered fatal head and chest injuries.[50][51]
27 July 2018
Mike Racicot, known as “Treehouse Mike”, died on a wingsuit flight in Switzerland.[52]
20 August 2019
Dr Angelo Grubisic (38), a Serbian/British wingsuit champion and astronautical engineer, died on a planned base jumping accident in Saudi Arabia. Grubisic had been leader of Southampton University's wingsuit design team and had set up a project to design a safer suit that could break records.[53]:

References

  1. ^ "Chute mortelle d'un inventeur de parachute". Le Temps (in French). Paris, FR. 6 February 1912. p. 4. Archived from the original on 25 February 2014. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
  2. ^ "Another bird man Gerard Masselin dies". British Pathé. 1963. Retrieved 13 November 2013.
  3. ^ Schatz, Bryan. "A life in flight: Wingsuit pioneer Loci Jean-Albert, "The Flying Dude"". Adventure Sports Journal. Retrieved 24 January 2018.
  4. ^ "Base jumper was 'meticulous'". The Sydney Morning Herald. 7 October 2003. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  5. ^ Jones, Lola (16 November 2008). "The Legend's last jump on the last day – 'Whatever happens, happens.'". XtremeSport. Retrieved 6 October 2012.
  6. ^ "A leap too far: leading base jumper killed in Shanghai". The Sydney Morning Herald. 9 October 2004. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  7. ^ "Hawaii TV adventurer died in Nunavut base jumping accident". CBC News. 14 May 2007. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  8. ^ Steve Casimiro (26 March 2016). "Skier Shane McConkey killed BASE-jumping in Italy". adventure-journal.com. Retrieved 13 June 2016.
  9. ^ "Eli Thompson 1973-2009". Archived from the original on 31 August 2009. Retrieved 8 August 2015.
  10. ^ "Base jumper was very careful". South Africa: News24. 2010.
  11. ^ "Geoffrey Robson". ETH Zürich. 2010.
  12. ^ "How a mythic base jumper met his untimely end". Newser. 27 July 2013. Retrieved 12 June 2016.
  13. ^ "Norwegian BASE jumper plummets 1,000 ft to his death near Grand Canyon when his parachute fails to open". Daily Mail. 6 December 2012. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  14. ^ "London 2012 parachutist Mark Sutton killed". BBC News. 15 August 2013. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
  15. ^ Reilly, Jill (15 August 2013). "'First trip here to fly and loving it': Tragic last message of James Bond Olympics daredevil who died after crashing into mountain at 200km/h". Daily Mail. UK. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
  16. ^ "Mario Richard dies in BASE jump accident". 20 August 2013. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
  17. ^ "Alvaro Bulto dies while skydiving". Global Post.
  18. ^ "Fallece Álvaro Bultó accidente los Alpes Suizos". Destacada. www.efe.com. EFE. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  19. ^ Tomlinson, Simon (9 October 2013). "Victor Kovats, Hungarian wingsuit flyer, dies in accident". Daily Mail. UK.
  20. ^ "Sean "Stanley" Leary killed BASE jumping". Rock & Ice. 24 March 2014. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  21. ^ "US wingsuit flyer dies after weekend accident". The Local. 3 April 2014. Retrieved 3 April 2014.
  22. ^ "Swiss wingsuit crash claims third victim". 3 News New Zealand. Retrieved April 2014. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  23. ^ "Dario Barrio dead: Spanish TV chef killed in base jumping wingsuit crash". The Independent. UK.
  24. ^ Koziol, Michael; Zielinski, Caroline (4 September 2014). "Extreme sports star Alex Duncan killed while wingsuit flying in Swiss Alps". Sydney Morning Herald.
  25. ^ "Michigan skydiver dies after jumping from TV tower". NY Daily News. 15 January 2015. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  26. ^ "Remembering pioneering climber Dean Potter". Adventureblog. Beyond the Edge. National Geographic. 17 May 2015. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  27. ^ "Jhonathan Flórez, el hombre pájaro, ensayaba un nuevo traje de salto cuando murió". El Heraldo (in Spanish). Columbia.
  28. ^ Shammas, John (4 July 2015). "Jhonathan Florez dead: World record BASE jumper dies 'during parachute exercises while preparing for China tournament'". Mirror. UK. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  29. ^ "Damian Hrdlicka". Obituary. BLinc Magazine. 10 July 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  30. ^ "Johnny Strange: American daredevil dies after wingsuit jump from summit in Switzerland". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 3 October 2015. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  31. ^ "Atleta de wingsuit que morreu após pular da Pedra da Gávea é velado". Globo. Rio de Janeiro. 8 June 2016.
  32. ^ "Man dies in Mt Blanc wingsuit crash". ansa.it. Italy. 13 June 2016.
  33. ^ "Seattle man who died BASE jumping in B.C. loved the sport, girlfriend says". The Star. 27 June 2016.
  34. ^ "Base jumper Uli Emanuele dies". ansa.it. 18 August 2016.
  35. ^ "BASE jumping exit point". BLiNC Magazine. Everything you ever wanted to know about BASE jumping, speed flying, and skydiving but didn't know whom to ask.
  36. ^ "Two men die in base jumping accidents in Switzerland". The Journal. Eire. AFP.
  37. ^ "Base jumper Alexander Polli dies". ansa.it. 22 August 2016.
  38. ^ "Ancora un base jumper morto in volo. Schmieder si schianta in diretta Facebook". Gazzetta. Italy. 26 August 2016.
  39. ^ "Lauterbrunnen: Basejumper tödlich verunfallt (Medien) Kantonspolizei Bern". www.police.be.ch. Kanton Bern.
  40. ^ "مرگ مهدی حبیبی، قهرمان پرش هوایی ایران". Persian sport. BBC. 21 November 2016.
  41. ^ "Canadian wingsuit flier dies after crash in China". 27 January 2017. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  42. ^ Judd, Amy (1 February 2017). "Canadian wingsuit flyer Graham Dickinson dies during BASE jump in China". Global News. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  43. ^ "Skydiver wearing a wingsuit crashes, dies in Northern California vineyard". LA Times. Associated Press. 25 May 2017.
  44. ^ Chavez, Nashelly; Yoon-Hendricks, Alexandra; Branan, Brad (25 May 2017). "'Parachute began spinning' during deadly skydive, Lodi center official said". Sacramento Bee.
  45. ^ "BASE jumper fatality sparks calls for a crackdown". www.newsinenglish.no.
  46. ^ "Swiss man dies in wingsuit accident in France". worldradio.ch. 7 July 2017.
  47. ^ "A famed Russian daredevil is killed in a BASE-jumping accident". Spiegel. Germany. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
  48. ^ "Canadian competitive skydiver, 27, who collided with another jumper mid-air and crash-landed on to a roof in freak accident had completed more than 1,000 jumps". Daily Mail. UK. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  49. ^ "Calgary skydiver killed after crashing into California home during wingsuit competition". Global News. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  50. ^ "Wingsuit jumper Rob Haggarty hit rock face three times". BBC News. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  51. ^ "Expert base jumper Rob Haggarty died after crashing into mountain-face in tragic accident, inquest hears". Romsey Advertiser. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  52. ^ "'I want to be put back into the air': The life and death of BASE jumper Mike Racicot". Obituary. CBC News. Retrieved 30 December 2018.
  53. ^ "Wingsuit scientist dies in Saudi Arabia base jump". BBC. 22 August 2019. Retrieved 22 August 2019.
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