Vincent Raffet, a French stuntman known for jumping from the world’s tallest towers and highest mountain range, and culminating in an airplane using a jetpack, died in Dubai on Tuesday during a training session, his company said. He was 36 years old.
Free-flying world champion and enthusiastic base jumper (jumping from static objects rather than a plane), Mr. Rafet performed strenuous feats, including a record break jump of more than 2,700 feet from the platform above Burj Khalifa. A stair dive in the plane from the world’s tallest building and a 13,000-foot mountain in Switzerland.
Jetman Dubai, of which he was a member, confirmed his death, but did not give further details. Police in Dubai and the General Civil Aviation Authority of the United Arab Emirates did not respond to requests for comment.
“Vince was a talented athlete and a very dear and respected member of our team,” Jetman Dubai said in a statement, adding that the group is working closely with officials.
Mr Rafet’s stature skyrocketed in 2015, when he caught the attention of Swiss aircraft enthusiast Yves Rossi, who became the first man to fly with a jet-powered wing, and later invited Mr Rafet to be the second “jetman” for his group.
In Dubai, the group worked with Extu-Sports brand X Dubai, backed by the Crown Prince. In a stunt that went viral, the pair flew from Dubai to Dubai, the world’s largest passenger plane, the Emirates Airbus 380.
The son of two skydivers, Mr. Raffett was born in Ecclesiastes in eastern France. He was introduced to the world of aerial stunts at an early age, making his first solo jump in 2000, according to a biography on Red Bull’s site, sponsoring him an energy holiday drink. Many of his feats were performed with his friend and close associate Frederick Fujen, with whom he also started a team of soul flyers, parachutists and jumpers.
In the interview, Mr. Refat spoke of the freedom that he enjoys flying with a jetpack and that he has a sense of joy that it transcends boundaries.
“This is a sense of freedom,” he told the Associated Press in 2015. When I am skydiving, I like this feeling of freedom – I like to go anywhere – but always like to go down. “Yet with a jetpack he said, ‘I can fly like a bird.’
Bass jumping is one of the most dangerous recreational sports in the world, and despite being a jetpack, Mr. Raffett was aware of the dangers involved in his stunts.
“Being completely autonomous is a risk to life, you know. Something went wrong, you have to act fast, “he said in a documentary” Loft: The Jetman’s Story. “And the glee of feats like zooming in a plane over the Swiss mountains was a” mental “battle that keeps the person sick in your stomach. Told the agency-France Press News Agency this month.
His exploits on landscapes such as Dubai’s Skyline, Europe’s highest mountain, Mont Blanc and Tiananmen Cave in China were brought to the attention of worldwide audiences.
In February, he accomplished what Jetman Dubai first said: – Flying a plane with a jetpack off the ground before making a flight to China, a move reminiscent of the Marvel hero Iron Man.
“There’s still a lot to come,” he said on social media recently.
Fans paid tribute to Mr. Raffet on his Instagram page on Wednesday, some saying he inspired him to enter the game. “For both you and Fred, I started jumping years ago,” one man wrote, referring to his colleague Mr. Fujen. “Forever fly free.”
