Austrian base jumper and parachutist Felix Baumgartner, 56, lost his life yesterday in an accident around 4 pm. He was vacationing with his wife in Porto Sant'Elpidio (Fermo) and was flying a motorized paraglider when he suffered a sudden illness that caused him to lose control of the craft. The glider, which had become uncontrollable, crashed into the edge of a hotel pool. In the fall, he knocked over a young woman, a resort manager, but she was not seriously injured.

Autopsies are underway, and the Italian Agency for Flight Safety (Ansv) will clarify the cause of the accident, although the most likely hypothesis is illness, as the athlete was reportedly already dead when he landed. Firefighters and emergency services arrived at the scene of the tragedy, including an air ambulance for emergency transport to the "Torrette" hospital in Ancona, but it apparently arrived to no avail.

Baumgartner was known worldwide for his extreme feats and record-breaking achievements. He began his skydiving career at the age of 16 and became one of Red Bull's most famous athletes. In the 1990s, he began base jumping, an extreme sport that involves leaping into the void from skyscrapers, natural features, and bridges. He achieved important milestones: for example, he was the first to jump from the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 1999, and in 2003 he flew across the English Channel in a wingsuit, the first man to accomplish this feat. He set the most important record, however, in 2012 with Red Bull Stratos, when he leaped from the stratosphere from over 24 miles (39 kilometers) at an estimated speed of 833.9 miles per hour (1,342.8 kilometers per hour) in just over 4 minutes of freefall (see AVIONEWS). He jumped from a capsule suspended from a helium balloon and became known worldwide for breaking three records: the greatest altitude reached by a manned hot-air balloon, the greatest height of a balloon launch, and the greatest speed reached by a man in free fall, exceeding the speed of sound.

Below is the video of the record-breaking launch that took place in 2012: