Failed BASE Jump of 1912
I thought this was interesting today.
Sometime around 1912 an inventor named Franz Reichelt built an experimental parachute that fitted into his overcoat.
Determined to test it himself, he leapt from the Eiffel Tower - only to fall almost 1000 feet to his death.
Watching the video has the sense of inevitability about it - as he hesitates you want to shout "don't jump - it won't work" at the screen.
But he does, and he dies. So it goes.
My curiosity is tweaked now - I wonder whether this was the earliest BASE jump recorded (other than suicides) - with the intention of landing safely,
How do you judge such things?
If some 17th Century inventor jumps of a cliff with wings then that would be an early attempt at flight - and not parachuting - so its not a BASE jump.
Nobody calls hang-glider enthusiasts "BASE Jumpers" when they jump off a cliff - the different technologies define the different categories of extreme sports quite clearly - one man's hang-glider launch is another man's BASE jump.
Does anyone have any details on this? Were there other parachuting pioneers that "BASE Jumped" and failed?
Tags: extreme sports extreme tales skydiving free fall base jumping
Thanks to Maison Bisson for this.