Australian dies in Swiss wingsuit accident: Police
PUBLISHED ONSeptember 03, 2014 11:55 AM
GENEVA - A 26-year-old Australian has died after hitting the mountainside during a wingsuit jump in the Swiss Alps, police said on Wednesday.
The man, whose name was not released, was killed on Tuesday in the rugged region of Valais, local police said in a statement.
He and another individual jumped from near the summit of the 2,243-metre (7,359-foot) Croix de Fer peak.
The Australian went off track right after his jump, and hit the rock face some 300 metres (984 feet) lower down the mountain.
Rescuers pronounced him dead at the scene.
The Swiss Alps are a magnet for wingsuit divers, who wear special jumpsuits that add surface area to the body, enabling them to glide like a bird, before opening a parachute like a regular skydiver.
Some 20 people are killed each year taking part in the extreme sport.
British wingsuit diver and stuntman Mark Sutton - best known for parachuting into the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony dressed as James Bond - died in August 2013 when he crashed into a Swiss mountain ridge after jumping from a helicopter.