Felix Baumgartner – the first human to go supersonic without a vehicle dies

Austrian Felix Baumgartner has died in a paragliding accident in Italy when he reportedly lost control of his aircraft during a “medical episode”.

The 56 year old was best known for his world record free fall jump from a helium balloon in the Stratosphere where hit an speed of 1,357.64 km/h (843.6 mph) making him the first human ever to go supersonic without a vehicle or powered assistance.

During the Red Bull Stratos jump, Baumgartner was in free fall for over 4 minutes from a height of 38,969.3 metres (127,852 feet) which was a world record, only for it to broken 10 days later by Alan Eustace.

Aside from the world record attempt Baumgartner was a keen base jumper and paraglider and even raced for Audi Motorsport in the 24 Hours of Nurburgring in 2014.