When Wingsuit Flying Goes Wrong: 6 Incidents You Won't Forget

Wingsuit flying is actually safer than it might seem. Don't believe me? Watch till the end. In 2017, Fred Fugen and Vince Reffet performed a mind-blowing stunt where they jumped from the Jungfrau Mountain in the Swiss Alps and flew into a moving Pilatus Porter aircraft. Then there's the Italian wingsuit legend, Robert Mancino, who successfully flew a wingsuit between two office buildings in Panama City in 2015. Guess where I found these incredible stories? That's right, on the websites of companies that specialize in wingsuit flying experiences. But of course, beyond the wild adrenaline rush and amazing views, nowhere did these websites mention the dark side of wingsuit diving. For every flyer who has glided through the clouds, there are many stories of those who never made it back to ground safely. You'll forget about the thrill of slicing the air at terminal velocity when you realize how quickly things can go wrong. As always, viewer discretion is advised. This video has garnered attention worldwide as it captured a truly jaw-dropping moment. On September 29th, 2016, Eric Dos Santos, a seasoned wingsuit pilot, embarked on what was supposed to be a routine flight through the French Alps. At the start of the video where Eric is about to take off, everything looks normal in an adventure that was anything but ordinary. With his helmet camera rolling, he even bid a casual au revoir before taking off. Okay, au revoir. As he soared over the snow-capped mountains and jagged cliffs, the camera captured a rollercoaster-like descent towards a lush green forest. The beauty of the scene was mesmerizing, with Eric's shadow tracing his path below, a calm, serene picture of the daring dance between man and nature. However, just 51 seconds into the flight, the narrative took a heart-stopping twist. Eric lost his altitude rapidly and unexpectedly. In one moment what should have been a routine flight almost became an obituary. This footage, directly from Eric's point of view, shows him navigating just above the treetops at an astonishing speed of over 90 miles per hour. As Eric begins to slow down, losing speed and altitude, the absolute worst happens. He collides with a treetop while still cruising at high speed. His camera catches the terrifying moment just before impact. Before going black. Somehow Eric miraculously survived this encounter, but the toll on his body was substantial. The fall left him with fractures in his left shoulder blade, the top of his left shoulder, his left collarbone, and three ribs on his left side. He also had a bruised neck, a cut liver, head injuries, and several cuts on his head. He even needed a hyperbaric chamber to aid his recovery from the head injuries. But still, he was ridiculously lucky. To survive a wingsuit crash at full flight speed without deploying a parachute. Eric is only the second person in the world known to have survived such a devastating accident. Wingsuit flying like Eric involves wearing a specially designed suit that has nylon membranes stretching between the arms, legs, and body, creating aerodynamic surfaces that allow the flyer to glide through the air horizontally. Mimicking the graceful flight of birds or bats, wingsuit flying is especially popular among base jumpers, who seek the purest form of flight without the need for an airplane. Instead, they climb to high elevations like cliffs or tall platforms and jump directly into the air. Once airborne, controlling their flight path requires precise movements. Subtle shifts of their arms or legs can significantly alter their direction and stability. At the end of their flight, Wingsuit flyers deploy a small parachute to safely reach the ground. While this might sound straightforward, the reality is that the technique for controlling a wingsuit is highly complex and requires a great deal of skill and practice. Many jumpers struggle with mastering this control, which is critical for safe flight. Even experienced flyers can face challenges due to the unpredictable nature of the sport, where small miscalculations can have serious consequences. It doesn't sound too hard. But in reality, a lot of divers and base jumpers have suffered precisely because they failed to manage this kind of steering. But of course, not all stories of flying in the clouds end with a miracle like Eric Dos Santos. In 2018, Amy-Jean Saint-Hilaire Adam. A 27-year-old elite jumper from Canada was participating in the Wide Open Wingsuit Series. The competition draws the world's most skilled wingsuit pilots, who don high-performance wingsuits to race each other through the sky. On that fateful day, Amy Jean was racing against another jumper when a catastrophic collision between them occurred in midair. One of the hosts of the competition recalled, They exited on the jump and he and another jumper lost sight of each other, had a moment of instability and had a collision. If they had gone by each other one foot apart, they would have missed each other completely and it would have been a non-incident. It was just a combination of different things and bad luck that led to it. All the wrong things happened just at the wrong time and the wrong place. Rendered unconscious by the collision, he was unable to pull the ripcord on his chute. Without the ability to deploy his parachute, he plummeted more than a hundred miles per hour, crashing onto the roof of a home in Riverside County, 70 miles east of Los Angeles, California. The impact was devastating. Amy Jean, known for his more than a thousand successful jumps, a respected figure in the wingsuit world, well celebrated for his daring and skill, passed away. His head was down, arms dangling, legs dangling. He had a glider suit on, but his emergency chute or something deployed last second, but he didn't do anything to do that. Sadly, when something goes wrong during a jump, all that skill, experience, past records, all that goes out the window. The primary danger in wingsuit flying, losing control, isn't quite something. You can train for and jumpers who find themselves in that state, survive purely on the whims of the winds. Their surrounding and the altitude at which they lost control. Wingsuit flyers at peak altitude typically reach speeds of over 100 miles per hour. At these speeds, any impact with a solid object, be it the ground or a structure, is extremely severe. The human body is not built to withstand impacts at these high velocities without severe injury or fatality. For Amy Jean, The mid-air collision that knocked him out cold made him a flying human meteor. Even if he was awake and alert, the chances of surviving a crash at such speeds was already razor-thin, but unconscious, he had no chance. In a very real sense, that collision sealed his fate. He was gone before he hit the ground, and just like that, a sport that thrives on adrenaline and precision reminded us of its razor-thin margins for error. On July 27th, 2018... The skies over Boulogne-en-Courcy, France, bore witness to a tragic and unusual accident that led to multiple court cases and an actual conviction. Nicolas Galli, at 40 years old, was an accomplished wingsuit diver whose passion for sky-high adventures was well-known within the extreme sports community. On that ordinary day, Nicolas embarked on what was supposed to be another thrilling dive from 14,000 feet. Nicholas had leaped from a single-engine Pilatus plane, a common choice for wingsuiters. The dive began routinely, as he and another skydiver soared through the air, their wingsuits granting them the freedom to glide like birds. The skies were clear and everything seemed normal, yet in mere moments a bizarre and disastrous sequence of events unfolded. The pilot of the Pilatus, caught up in the rush of the dive sequence, began a rapid descent to circle back for the next group of jumpers. At the same time, Nicholas, fueled by adrenaline, charted a path that would fatally cross with the descending aircraft. The vast sky suddenly became a confined stage for a grave mistake. The aircraft, with its wide wings cutting through the air, was unknowingly on a collision course with Nicholas. As Nicholas glided downwards, the pilot, oblivious to the diver's proximity, continued his descent. Just 20 seconds into his dive, the unthinkable happened. Nicholas collided with the plane from which he had just jumped. The impact was brutal and immediate. Striking the plane's wing at such a high altitude and speed was instantly fatal for Nicholas, and he lost his life right on impact. Now, there are multiple red flags about the The pilot was flying the plane without a valid license. Second, there was no pre-jump briefing with the skydivers, an oversight that likely contributed to the fatal misunderstanding of flight paths. Finally, the pilot assumed that Nicholas and the other diver were further south than they were. The dreadful accident led to a court case, where prosecutors pointed to pilot error as the primary cause of Gally's death, a claim that the pilot contested. He defended his actions by arguing that Gally had strayed off the expected flight path, a route he should not have been on. I think my flight path made sense, the pilot said during the trial, expressing that while the event was a tragedy, he did not see himself at fault. However, the court found otherwise. The combination of pilot error and an invalid license was too much negligence to overlook, and as a result, he received a 12-month suspended manslaughter sentence and was barred from flying for a year. The most terrifying thing is that Nicholas was just one of 23 people who died from base jumping in 2018. Yes, you heard that right. 23. On average, this might seem like a small number, but when you consider the relatively small number of people who participate in this extreme sport, the fatality rate is alarmingly high. So why do people consciously take such a risk and engage in a pursuit? For some, it's for the adrenaline that And that comes from... Pushing the boundaries of safety, but for Uli Emanuele. It was more than just the thrill of cheating death, where every jump could realistically be your last. It was about pushing the limits of what was possible with human flight. Uli Emanuele was known for his extraordinary skill and precision in wingsuit flying. His approach to the sport was almost artistic, constantly striving to perfect his flight path and achieve feats that no one had a dare to attempt before. In one of his most breathtaking jumps captured on video, Uli flew through a 6.5 feet wide cave hole opening hole in a mountain in Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland in 2014, a feat that required not only immense bravery, but meticulous planning and precision. His margin for error was razor thin, and even the smallest miscalculation would have seen him crash brutally into a wall on either side of the cave. This jump, like many of his others, was captured on his GoPro camera. and has been viewed over a million times on YouTube. Uli Emanuele also brought to life another one of his sensational dreams to fly through a ring of fire. with the help of some friends they carted the heavy metal contraption high into the Italian Alps. with a little improvisation the support crew got everything ready just as the wind slowed allowing Uli to soar through the flaming circle. in August of 2016 Uli Emanuele was in the Dolomites Italy. Ready for what would be one of his most daring wingsuit flights, he chose a particularly challenging route that involved flying through a narrow rock formation. Known for his exceptional skill and confidence in his ability to navigate treacherous terrain, Uli did not hesitate. He leapt from his starting point, soaring with precision and control, as he had done over 60 times before. The flight was going flawlessly, captured on his GoPro camera, with Uli demonstrating why he was considered one of the best in the world at wingsuit flying. He was about to complete another spectacular jump, but then, in a heart-stopping moment he miscalculated. This slight error in judgment caused him to come too close to the rocks. He lost control, and before he could pull his parachute, Uli collided with the mountain at high speed. It was a devastating impact, and sadly it was impossible for him to survive. So it turns out even professional wingsuiters aren't immune to accidents, even if they have defied the limits and broken records before. And as proof, there's a story that happened in 2022 to Richard Pouchere. Pouchere was a professional base jumping instructor with over 20 years of skydiving experience and over 14 years of base jumping experience. From the valleys of Los Angeles to the mountain of Zhangjiajie, China, he had gone diving just about everywhere. He even co-founded a base jumping equipment and instruction company called Apex Base, along with his wife. One sunny day on January 7, 2022, Pouchere and his friend went to a popular jumping spot known as Super Gorgeous in Moab, Utah, a location famed for its breathtaking views of Castle Valley and the Colorado River. This spot was a favorite among experienced jumpers for its challenging terrain and stunning scenery. The plan that day was to perform a proximity flight, a technique used by experienced skydivers who find regular jumps too tame. This technique involved flying as close as possible to the surrounding terrain. As the sun cast long shadows over the valley, Poucher suited up and leapt from the cliff with his characteristic confidence, soaring towards the rugged terrain below. However, not everything went as planned. What exactly happened to Pouchere that day is still unclear as the authorities haven't released details to the public. All we know is that a satellite messaging device he had on his person detected an impact minutes after his jump, and this triggered an emergency SOS call to the authorities. Pouchere's companion, who remained at the top of the cliff, also activated a satellite messaging device requesting emergency assistance. Authorities responded immediately, and in the ensuing search and rescue operation, he was later found on a steep talus slope about 1,000 feet below his jump point. and about 700 feet above the Colorado River. What happened to this veteran jumper in his final moments is something we will never know. We only know that Richard was found dead after that jump, and he most likely crashed into a rock. But just when you think it can't get even more dangerous, there's an element of wingsuiting where a group will go together instead of a solo flight. On April 23rd, 2014, the extreme sports world was struck by a devastating tragedy involving three of its most experienced wingsuit flyers, Dan Vickery, Ludovic Wirth, and Brian Drake. The trio, known for their skill, had embarked on a challenging proximity flight from a helicopter in the picturesque Luchental Valley in Switzerland. Their plan was to execute a steep flight path just above a ridge. A maneuver that requires flawless execution due to the close proximity to the terrain. Unfortunately, a critical misjudgment occurred. During their descent, they aimed to fly over a steep ridge that would lead them into a more suitable area for landing. Unfortunately, they misjudged their flight path. The group ended up circling around the ridge, which unexpectedly led them only to flat terrain with no suitable areas for safe landing or maneuvering. A dangerous scenario for wingsuit flyers who rely on steeper descents to maintain lift and control. In a desperate attempt to correct their course, they took a sharp left turn, aiming for a section of steeper downhill terrain that had initially been obscured by the ridge. This was their fatal mistake. The sudden change in direction brought them too close to the ground too quickly. Tragically, all three flyers misjudged their altitude and the distance to the terrain. Vickery and Drake were a little over 30 feet away from reaching the safety of the slope when they landed catastrophically, while Wirth missed it by just 10 feet. The impact was severe and immediate. Vickery and Wirth lost their lives right on the scene, and Drake succumbed to his injuries four days later. Even for a sport known for its fatality rate, the news of the triple demise sent shockwaves through the entire wingsuit community. And yet despite the dangers and the sobering reminders of how unforgiving it is, the sport continues to thrive, as enthusiasts from around the globe remain perpetually drawn to the thrill of flight, even with the real risks of it being the last thing they will ever do alive. Of course, in this video, I have compiled for you examples of the most horrific wingsuit flying injuries and deaths. I should point out that deadly incidents happen approximately once in 600 wingsuit-based jumping flights. This makes it significantly riskier than skydiving, where the fatality rate is about 5 in 1,000,000 jumps. So what about wingsuit diving being safer than it seems? Well, to put it in perspective, getting into your car today and driving can be even more dangerous, with 1 in 147 car accidents ending in a fatality. Interestingly, Despite the high risks, wingsuit flying captures the fascination of many adventurers. And of course, these statistics come from comprehensive studies and reports on the sport. Would you dare to take on wingsuit flying after watching this? Thanks for watching, and I'll see you in the next one. Stay bold and live brave.