The accident involving extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner, who died in a paragliding incident in July, resulted from human error, according to an official inquiry released on Tuesday.
Baumgartner, best known as the first person to break the sound barrier while skydiving, lost his life along Italy’s Adriatic coast at the age of 56. Witnesses reported that the flight seemed routine before his paraglider began spiraling uncontrollably, eventually crashing near a hotel pool.
Raffaele Iannella, the prosecutor leading the investigation, stated that no mechanical failure was found in Baumgartner's powered paraglider.
“He entered a spin and could not recover. He failed to execute the necessary maneuver to stabilize his descent,” Iannella told the Associated Press.
The prosecutor will now seek to close the case, pending approval from a judge.
Nicknamed “Fearless Felix,” Baumgartner gained international fame in 2012 when he achieved supersonic speed during a skydive from the stratosphere. Wearing a specialized suit, he jumped from a capsule suspended over 24 miles above New Mexico by a large helium balloon.
During the nine-minute descent, Baumgartner reached a peak speed of 843.6 mph—1.25 times the speed of sound. His team later revealed that he entered a risky flat spin while still at supersonic velocity, rotating uncontrollably for 13 seconds.
Reflecting on the experience after landing, Baumgartner said, “When you’re standing at the edge of space, humility takes over. It’s not about records or data anymore—just survival.”
A former military parachutist from Austria, Baumgartner had completed thousands of jumps from planes, bridges, and high-altitude structures worldwide. Yet he rejected the label of thrill-seeker, stating in 2012, “I dislike being called an adrenaline junkie. Planning is what drives me, not just the risk.”
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