Felix Baumgartner, the Austrian extreme athlete who became the first person to break the sound barrier during a freefall jump in 2012, died Thursday in a paragliding crash along Italy's eastern coast, according to officials. He was 56. Italian firefighters reported a paraglider crashed into a swimming pool in the city of Porto Sant Elpidio. Mayor Massimiliano Ciarpella confirmed Baumgartner's death in a social media post. "Our community is deeply affected by the tragic disappearance of Felix Baumgartner, a figure of global prominence, a symbol of courage and passion for extreme flight," Ciarpella said. According to media reports, Baumgartner suffered a cardiac arrest while still in the air. Just hours before, he had posted an image in his Instagram story captioned: "Too much wind." Baumgartner gained international fame in 2012 when he jumped from a capsule suspended 24 miles above Earth by a helium balloon over New Mexico. During the nine-minute descent, he reached 843.6 mph, equivalent to 1.25 times the speed of sound, making him the first human to break the sound barrier using only his body. The jump, part of the Red Bull Stratos project, was watched by millions via YouTube livestream. Baumgartner experienced a dangerous flat spin for 13 seconds while still supersonic before stabilising and deploying his parachute. "When I was standing there on top of the world, you become so humble, you do not think about breaking records anymore, you do not think about gaining scientific data. The only thing you want is to come back alive," he said after landing in the New Mexico desert. The altitude record also marked the highest-ever jump for a skydiver, surpassing the previous record set by Joe Kittinger in 1960. Kittinger served as an adviser during Baumgartner's attempt. Baumgartner's altitude record stood for two years until Google executive Alan Eustace set new marks for highest free-fall jump and greatest free-fall distance. The former Austrian military parachutist made thousands of jumps from planes, bridges, skyscrapers and landmarks worldwide, including the Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil. In 2003, he flew across the English Channel using a carbon fibre wing after being dropped from a plane. In recent years, Baumgartner performed as a helicopter stunt pilot with The Flying Bulls in shows across Europe. Following his record-breaking jump, Baumgartner said traveling faster than sound is "hard to describe because you don't feel it." "Sometimes we have to get really high to see how small we are," he said. — Euronews
