The cause of death of Felix Baumgartner: The extreme athlete died of that

Public prosecutor’s office is investigating

Felix Baumgartner died of this – the cause of death is known

Felix Baumgartner died in a tragic accident in Italy. Now there are initial findings on his cause of death.

The Austrian extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner died on July 17, 2025 in Italy at a paraglider flight. The 56-year-old crashed and landed on the terrace of the “Le Mimose Family Resort” in Porto Sant’elpidio on the Adriatic.

The public prosecutor names the impact as the reason for the death of Baumgartner.

The Attorney General of Fermo, Raffaele Iannella, explains in an interview with the “Bild” that the autopsy of Baumgartner’s body is completed on Wednesday. The body of the extreme athlete is currently in the Fermo hospital for further examination.

He adds: “What we know so far: Baumgartner died in the impact, the spine broke in the lower area of the back and the spinal cord was damaged.”

How the fatal crash came about is still unclear. Iannella emphasizes that Baumgartner’s Bodycam is evaluated in order to find possible answers. A scenario examined is the possibility that Baumgartner suffered a heart attack during the flight and thereby lost control of the aircraft.

Further knowledge could be obtained by examining the paraglider, which begins on Tuesday. Here it is checked whether a technical defect could have led to the crash. The investigation will still take 40 to 50 days, it is said.

Baumgartner became known around the world in 2012 when he was the first person to reach sound speed in a jump from the stratosphere in free fall. Many millions of people watched live as he plunged into the depths. It reached a top speed of more than 1,300 kilometers per hour. He also won the record for the highest manned balloon flight and the highest parachute jump.