Felix Baumgartner is dead. The man who jumped spectacularly onto the earth from almost 39 kilometers in 2012 was fatal at paragliding in Italy.
The 56-year-old Austrian died on Thursday (July 17th, 2025) in an accident with his motorized paraglider in Porto Sant’elpidio, Italy. This was confirmed by the Italian fire brigade and the Austrian Foreign Ministry of the German Press Agency.
According to this, Baumgartner landed in the swimming pool of a hotel complex on the Adriatic coast for reasons that have so far been unexplained. The Austrian radio (ORF) referred to a report by the fire brigade, according to which Baumgartner is said to have lost control of his engine paraglider due to a sudden discomfort.
2012 with 1,342.8 km/h rasted towards the earth
Baumgartner became known worldwide through spectacular stunts. His most famous campaign was a jump from the stratosphere in 2012. At that time, he had fallen into the depths from a height of around 39 kilometers and was the first person in free fall to break the sound barrier. The speed was measured at 1,342.8 kilometers per hour.
Baumgartner had recently shared videos of his paragliding flights on social media. On his right arm he wore the lettering “Born to Fly” – born to fly.