What happened to Felix Baumgartner? Skydiving icon’s death in paragliding crash is a mystery

Dubai: How did Felix Baumgartner die? News reports quoting local police in central Italy say the Austrian extreme sports pioneer died in a paragliding accident. But the reasons for the accident were unclear.

Baumgartner, famed for a record-breaking 2012 skydive from the edge of space,  lost control of his motorised paraglider while flying over the coastal town Porto Sant Elpidio in central Marche region on Thursday.

Why the glider lost altitude and crashed near a hotel swimming pool is still a mystery.

Massimiliano Ciarpella, mayor of Porto Sant’Elpidio, said initial reports suggest Baumgartner may have suffered a sudden medical issue midair.

Fans have been leaving heartfelt tributes beneath one of the skydiver's final social media posts — a video showing him working on the motor of his paraglider.

Another post, shared around 14:30 local time (13:30 BST), read "too much wind" and showed a photo of a fully extended windsock beneath a cloudy sky.

The 56-year-old Austrian, known as “Fearless Felix,” made global headlines in October 2012 when he jumped from a balloon 38km above Earth, becoming the first skydiver to break the sound barrier — typically measured at over 1,110 km/h.