The paragliding crash that killed extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner in July was caused by human error, an investigating prosecutor said on Tuesday.
Baumgartner, the first skydiver to fall faster than the speed of sound, died in July along Italy’s Adriatic coast. He was 56. Witnesses said the flight appeared normal until Baumgartner’s paraglider started spinning to the ground, crashing near a hotel swimming pool.
Prosecutor Raffaele Iannella said the investigation found no technical issues with Baumgartner’s motorized paraglider.
“He fell into a spiral, and he could not get out. He was unable to do the maneuver that he should have done to exit [the fall],” Iannella told the Associated Press.
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The prosecutor will now request that the case be closed, which will require a judge’s approval.
Known as “Fearless Felix,” Baumgartner made headlines around the world in 2012 when he became the first skydiver to break the sound barrier. He wore a pressurized suit and jumped from a capsule hoisted more than 24 miles above New Mexico by a giant helium balloon.
The Austrian topped out at 843.6 mph – the equivalent of 1.25 times the speed of sound – during a nine-minute descent. At one point, he went into a potentially dangerous flat spin while still supersonic, spinning for 13 seconds, his crew later said.
Felix Baumgartner makes record-breaking skydive from space – video
“When I was standing there on top of the world, you become so humble,” he said after landing in New Mexico. “You do not think about breaking records any more, you do not think of about gaining scientific data. The only thing you want is to come back alive.”
Baumgartner, a former Austrian military parachutist, made thousands of jumps from planes, bridges, skyscrapers and landmarks around the world, but denied he took unnecessary risks. “I hate it if someone calls me a thrillseeker or an adrenaline junkie because I am not. I like the whole planning,” he said in 2012.
