<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Felix Baumgartner, an Austrian BASE jumper and skydiver renowned for his record-breaking jump from the stratosphere, has died while paragliding in Italy, local media reported.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Baumgartner, 56, lost control of his paraglider and crashed into a hotel swimming pool in the coastal town of Porto Sant'Elpidio, CNN affiliate SkyTG24 reported.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The apparatus struck a woman who was not seriously injured, according to SkyTG24.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/james-nowland-death-australian-base-jumper-dies-in-italian-dolomites-accident/32d0c86d-86b0-42e6-952e-ce3254c164f9" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Australian BASE jumper dies in jump gone wrong in Italy</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Italy's national broadcaster RAI reported that authorities were working to determine the exact cause of the crash.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>CNN has reached out to Baumgartner's representatives.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The mayor of Porto Sant'Elpidio, Massimiliano Ciarpella, said on his official Facebook page that his community was "deeply affected" by the death of Baumgartner, who he called a "symbol of courage."</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/felix-baumgartner-skydiver-dies-paragliding-accident-italy/9e18f39c-6a1d-45b9-9ac8-452ec76c88d5" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/england-bus-crash-school-bus-crash-leaves-1-student-dead-2-seriously-injured/c5f03f51-4af5-4a4c-bc15-2b9c7ab623d7" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>School bus crash in England leaves 1 student dead, 2 seriously injured</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Baumgartner, who had BASE jumped from landmarks like the Petronas Towers in Malaysia and the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, achieved international recognition in 2012 when he broke a world record by skydiving from a pressurised pod about 39km above the ground.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A decade later, he described to CNN how he felt at that moment.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I'm standing there on top of the world outside of a capsule in space and in the stratosphere. I looked around the sky above me was completely black," Baumgartner told CNN Sport's Patrick Snell.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/donald-trump-diagnosed-with-chronic-venous-insufficiency/0b3c5e8c-7e0f-4b0a-bd79-805bbe347806" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Trump diagnosed with blood condition, White House reveals</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I was really trying to inhale that moment," he added.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>As he fell to Earth, his speed reached more than 1350km/hr, breaking the sound barrier.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The so-called Red Bull Stratos freefall took six years to plan as the team worked out every detail of the jump.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We thought, we're going to build the capsule, build the pressure suit, practice for a while, and then we go all the way up to the stratosphere and come back to Earth at supersonic speed," said Baumgartner.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Sometimes we'd go into a meeting with three problems and then leave that meeting eight hours later with another five … and no solution for the previous problems."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>To get Baumgartner up to the stratosphere, his team had to construct a helium balloon the size of 33 football pitches, weighing 1682kg. It took as many as 20 people to move without damaging the balloon's material, which was 10 times thinner than a sandwich bag.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But the biggest threat to the project was perhaps the most unforeseen – Baumgartner's mental fortitude.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The suit had to be both pressurised and able to handle temperatures of -72 degrees.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It's very uncomfortable," said Baumgartner.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"You have a total lack of mobility. It always feels like you're breathing through a pillow. You're completely separated from the outside world. So once the visor is down, all you can hear is yourself breathing."</span></div></div><div class="styles__Wrapper-sc-2o34ro-0 cmwkBV"><div class="styles__Column-sc-2o34ro-3 jJDKrX"><a href="/content/2025/07/17/09/27/today-in-history-july-18-what-happened-on-this-day"><img alt="" sizes="(min-width: 1024px) 636px, (min-width: 768px) 396px, 100vw" src="https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/PR4YbsroMNN7mwcrQBs4dZ2XJ1k=/396x223/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2F06ed5acd-dca3-4b79-a0b1-8c50dca945af" srcset="https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/PR4YbsroMNN7mwcrQBs4dZ2XJ1k=/396x223/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2F06ed5acd-dca3-4b79-a0b1-8c50dca945af 396w, https://imageresizer.static9.net.au/oMq9QI9hkIyow0C1FYpja0wmvCk=/636x358/https%3A%2F%2Fprod.static9.net.au%2Ffs%2F06ed5acd-dca3-4b79-a0b1-8c50dca945af 636w"/></a></div><div class="styles__Column-sc-2o34ro-3 jJDKrX"><div class="styles__Headline-sc-2o34ro-4 hpbOlz">Prisoner-of-war blinks out T-O-R-T-U-R-E in television interview</div><div class="styles__Button-sc-2o34ro-1 eBjlmW"><a class="styles__ButtonLink-sc-2o34ro-2 hqpklJ" href="/content/2025/07/17/09/27/today-in-history-july-18-what-happened-on-this-day">View Gallery</a></div></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Soon after landing, Baumgartner said he struggled to process his emotions as he approached the Earth.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I had tears in my eyes when I was coming back a couple of times because you're sitting there and you thought about that moment so many times, you know, how it would feel and how it would look like," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"And this is way bigger than I had anticipated."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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