Felix Baumgartner dies in paragliding accident, 7/17/25

[Kenny Phillips]

Rather odd story, as well.
"Austrian extreme athlete Felix Baumgartner, who jumped down to earth from the stratosphere in a 2012 stunt, died in a paragliding accident in the eastern Italian town of Porto Sant’Elpidio on Thursday.
According to local media, the 56-year-old lost consciousness while in flight and then lost control of his paraglider, crashing into a hotel pool and lightly injuring a young female employee."

 

[Matthew]

Wow

 

[Warlock]

There has to be video of this…just because of who he is…shocking…

 

[sourdough44]

Very much a bummer. I’d think he was a guy that rode the edge of the envelope. Mr Murphy is always lurking for a time to strike.

 

[Ed Haywood]

Very much a bummer. I’d think he was a guy that rode the edge of the envelope. Mr Murphy is always lurking for a time to strike.

That guy spent his life daring Mr Murphy.

 

[Kenny Phillips]

Very much a bummer. I’d think he was a guy that rode the edge of the envelope. Mr Murphy is always lurking for a time to strike.

If he truly suffered a loss of consciousness, that's interesting timing for Murphy. Heart attack or stroke whilst flying? Not unheard of, at all.

 

[Dana]

If he truly suffered a loss of consciousness, that's interesting timing for Murphy. Heart attack or stroke whilst flying? Not unheard of, at all.

Or G-LOC? You can pull a surprising account of g in a PG in a spiral dive.

 

[Craig]

Latest is that he suffered a fatal heart attact then crashed a little while afterwards. Deceased prior to the crash.

 

[barney]

This was on the news last night. Shocking that things would end this way for someone of his caliber.

 

[Ed Haywood]

Or G-LOC? You can pull a surprising account of g in a PG in a spiral dive.

Can you sustain it though? Momentary high G aren't usually a problem. It's when you go past 4 to 6 seconds that the world closes in.

A point of reference. I've flown in maybe 10 IAC contests over the years. With an average of 30 pilots, that is 120 flights per contest. At least half of those flights were by pilots flying upper level categories in high performance aircraft like Extras. So I have observed well over 1000 aerobatic flights, plus several hundred of my own practice flights. I have never personally seen or heard of anyone experiencing GLOC.

While GLOC is real, unless you are sitting on tens of thousands of pounds of thrust, it's just really hard to do.

 

[Hang 4]

Can you sustain it though? Momentary high G aren't usually a problem. It's when you go past 4 to 6 seconds that the world closes in.

Short answer is yes, spiral dive in a PG can be a sustained high G maneuver. The consensus is that Felix had a medical issue in flight, so G-LOC is not seen as an issue here. Here's a page/video discussing this exact issue, including a centrifuge. Deep Spiral

 

[Dana]

Can you sustain it though? Momentary high G aren't usually a problem. It's when you go past 4 to 6 seconds that the world closes in.

Yes, as @Hang 4 said a spiral dive can be a sustained high g maneuver. We do it because it's fun... but the exit has to be managed carefully as the excess energy is bled off, or you might find yourself in an unintentional loop.

 

[Warmi]

Latest is that he suffered a fatal heart attact then crashed a little while afterwards. Deceased prior to the crash.

Another confirmation that more often than not, your genes are your destiny - yes, a healthy and active life style will keep you at your level of healthy and but if you are unlucky one and that level is genetically preset at a low level , well …

 

[tobnpr]

Short answer is yes, spiral dive in a PG can be a sustained high G maneuver. The consensus is that Felix had a medical issue in flight, so G-LOC is not seen as an issue here. Here's a page/video discussing this exact issue, including a centrifuge. Deep Spiral

Interesting. Had no idea of those maneuvers, cool chit.
Wonder if they have a cam on that centrifuge... I've got a pic of my son in the 'fuge at Wright Pat, hilarious