Felix Baumgartner: Lights saw him “suddenly fallen down” (video)

At first glance, everything is still the same on his Instagram account. In the last video by Felix Baumgartner – or “thumbelixbaumgartner”, as his name is – you can see how the Austrian extreme athlete casually screwed around on his motorized paraglider. He shows the “Born to Fly” tattoo on the right forearm very prominently. The fact that the man who was supposedly born to fly now died when flying, at 56, can only be seen in the comments.

His death moves. “Fly high, Felix. Forever over the clouds,” writes one of his more than 200,000 followers on Instagram. Another says on social networks: “This is the price for life at the limit.” Baumgartner had often polarized – especially since he dropped down onto the earth from almost 40 kilometers in 2012.

The beverage company Red Bull, who sponsored him, appreciates Baumgartner with the words: “You have every project down to the depth, no detail was too small, no risk too great – as long as you could calculate it.” The head of Austria’s right party FPÖ, Herbert Kickl, calls him “brave pioneer, a passionate patriot and a person with attitude.” The reactions in his homeland to the news of death in a paraglider accident on Italy on Italy show: the dismay is great, but the man of extremes did not make it to the national hero despite breathtaking performances.

In recent years, he has often been angry. Finally, he interfered in women’s football. He wrote on Facebook to complain of the Swiss international Alisha Lehmann about the salary differences to the men: “Imagination is also an education. Of course, women’s football players do not do the same job as their male colleagues. Otherwise they would have the same rates as the men.” Because of derogatory statements about women, he was awarded the negative price “pink handtail” at home.

The cause of death should now clarify an autopsy. It is also examined whether the sports equipment may have had a technical defect, as the Italian authorities said. So far, it is believed that Baumgartner lost control due to a weakness. “He fell from the sky like a stone,” said an eyewitness. The record man fell to death on Thursday in the sant’elpidio seaside resort on the Adriatic coast. In 2012 he made headlines around the world with his jump from the stratosphere down to earth.

The trained car mechanic felt most comfortable in the air. Even as a child, he often climbed on trees, he recalled in an interview. “I always wanted to see the world from above.” The helicopter pilot was particularly proud of his career as a base jumper. Red Bull lists some of his most spectacular jumps, including the “probably most difficult base jump ever-in the 190-meter-deep bottle-shaped cave shaft of the mom cavity in the Croatian Velebit Mountains.”

Baumgartner’s “trademark” was the number 502-his registration number at the American Base Association, which he also wore as a tattoo on his back. Base jumping – a jump into the depth, which is then slowed down by a parachute – is a particularly dangerous way to get a kick. The portal “Base Fatality Statistics” lists more than 500 deaths since 1981.

The occasions in which Baumgartner could easily have died are numerous. He loved the adrenaline and crossing limits. According to Red Bull, he always prepared himself extremely meticulously. In view of his career, the circumstances of his death seem to be common.

The much used Italian news portal fan page writes: “The man who had survived the cosmic emptiness who defied death, under the most extreme conditions that can be imagined, has left the earth at a moment that should actually be a moment of calm.”

Baumgartner crashed into the system of a hotel when he crashed. It is unclear whether he was still conscious. According to the fire brigade, all attempts to reanimate him were unsuccessful. In the impact, an animator of the system was slightly injured by a debris. Numerous hotel guests watched the misfortune.