Felix Baumgartner dead at 56 — legendary skydiver known for famous 2012 stratosphere jump killed in tragic paragliding accident

Renowned daredevil Felix Baumgartner, famous for his record-smashing stunts — including a 24-mile skydive from the edge of space in 2012 — has died in a paragliding accident in Italy, according to local media reports.

The 56-year-old Austrian extreme sports enthusiast reportedly fell ill while flying a motorized paraglider in the Italian coastal town of Porto Sant’Elpidio, crashing the craft into a hotel swimming pool.

Felix Baumgartner, a legendary skydiver most known for his 2012 stratosphere jump, has died at 56 in a tragic paragliding accident. Getty Images

He reportedly died instantly during the freak accident, according to media reports. A hotel employee was also injured after being struck by the glider and taken to the hospital with neck injuries.

Baumgartner’s attention-grabbing stunts included extreme parachuting, BASE jumping and skydiving.

In 1999, he set the world record for the highest parachute jump from a building when he took a leap from the 1,483-foot Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Baumgartner rose to stardom after his famous 2012 jump from the stratosphere, a world record at the time. AFP/Getty Images

That same year, he set a record for the lowest BASE jump ever, hurtling himself from the 85-foot arm of the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro.

His most famous jump was in 2012, when Baumgartner jumped 24 miles from a helium balloon, reaching a top speed of Mach 1.25 (843.6 mph) and becoming the first person to ever break the sound barrier without a vehicle.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.