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Known for jumping to Earth from Space, sports icon ‘Fearless Felix’ passes away at 56 after paragliding crash
He was a daredevil, a trailblazer, and an icon. ‘Fearless Felix’ Baumgartner, who fell faster than sound and soared higher than fear, has died in a recent accident mid-air.
Best known as ‘Fearless Felix’ for his record-breaking 2012 stratospheric skydive, Felix Baumgartner passed at 56 after a paragliding mishap in Italy on July 18. While flying over Porto Sant’Elpidio this week, he suddenly fell ill, lost control of his motorized glider, and crashed into a hotel pool before suffering cardiac arrest, per reports.
Baumgartner’s death reverberates across the extreme-sports community, as he embodied the spirit of pushing human limits, whether plunging from 127,852 feet or soaring in carbon-fiber wings.
From Christ the Redeemer to the edge of space
Felix Baumgartner was never built for limits. Long before his world-famous jump, the extreme sports specialist built his reputation with death-defying BASE jumps. In 1999, he leapt 95 feet from Rio’s Christ the Redeemer statue and later BASE-jumped the 91st floor of Taipei 101.
He flew across the English Channel in carbon fiber wings and, in 2014, raced in the 24 Hours of Nürburgring with Audi Motorsport. Yet nothing eclipsed the Red Bull Stratos mission: on October 14, 2012, he ascended 24 miles into the stratosphere and became the first person to break the sound barrier in freefall.
Per The Guardian, Felix reached 1,343 km/hr before gliding safely to Earth. His calm thumbs-up before the leap remains an iconic image of human daring.
A legacy carried on by countless followers
Baumgartner’s Instagram feed—active until the day before his accident—burst with fans’ tributes: “Rest in peace Legend,” one wrote. At the same time, another recalled how his leap helped them become “interested in Space and aviation.”
One fan wrote: “Reunited with mentor Joe Kittinger, fly high. RIP legend.” Another added: “Absolutely surreal that his story is still online and he is no longer alive...” His flying exploits earned him numerous awards in 2012 and 2013, as well as roles as a helicopter stunt pilot with the Flying Bulls.
Though his final flight ended in tragedy, his motto still resonates: “Learn to love what you have been taught to fear,” according to WatchTime. He is mourned by his family, close friends, and a global community inspired by every record he shattered.
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